Nightmares
by Tori Stone
Summary: Danny, Sam, Tucker, Valerie, and Jazz are forced to face each of their own personal nightmares - together. What will they learn about each other? And will they make it out alive? Rated for some violent imagery and some sparse language. DxS and TxV
1. Food Fight?

Hey y'all.

So, I figured since everyone seemed to like Girl so much, I'd try another one of my ideas for my novel.

This one is more than likely going to be much longer than Girl, but you never know...I could get lazy (:

Anyways...

I don't own Danny Phantom.

But you knew that.

Enough talk!

On with the show!

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><p><strong>Nightmares<strong>

**Chapter One:** Food Fight?

One blisteringly hot Friday afternoon at the end of May found Daniel "Danny" Fenton, Tucker Foley, and Samantha "Sam" Manson lounging in Casper High's cafeteria. The three teens were happily enjoying their lunches, talking and laughing about their summer plans like best friends do.

"Man, how am I gonna get Valerie to notice me?" Tucker asked suddenly, shoving a large bite of cheeseburger in his mouth.

Sam cringed. "I don't know, but definitely not like that,"

Danny laughed as Tucker scowled at her. "Seriously, though." He gasped after he choked the bite down. "What am I gonna do? It's like I'm invisible to her,"

"Watch out, Fen-_toe_-nail!" A masculine shout drifted over the heads of the other students in the cafeteria. The trio looked up just in time to see a large helping of mashed potatoes soaring toward them. Well, really, toward Danny. He ducked quickly, thanking the ghost gods for his quick reflexes developed from his frequent ghost fighting.

The potatoes smacked right into the back of a very beautiful African-American girl's head. She froze. The entire cafeteria fell silent as Danny sat up slowly, his wide eyes trained on the back of the girl's head.

When she whipped around, Tucker gasped. It was Valerie. Her brown eyes were blazing, and she looked as if she could breathe fire.

"Which one of you _freaks_ threw that at me?" She hissed at the trio.

"Um, wrong table, _Val_," Sam said. She stood and pointed at Dash, who was quickly wiping the remnants of mashed potatoes off of his fingers while his tablemates laughed. "Try down there,"

Valerie's eyes narrowed as they rested on Dash. Dash smirked at her and waved. "I'll kill him," She whispered under her breath. She turned to her tray and scooped up a handfull of peas. Cocking her fist back, she stood and shouted, "Eat peas, jerk!"

"That's_ quite_ enough, Miss Grey," A loud, disciplined voice called. Mr. Lancer appeared out of no where, stepping quickly toward her. "If I were you, I would put those peas down. _Now_."

Valerie obliged, her cheeks burning an impressively dark red. "Let's see," Mr. Lancer said. "Throwing food in the cafeteria? That calls for...three week's detention." Valerie gaped at him.

"But Mr. Lancer, I can't have detention! I have...things to do after school! Plus there's only three weeks of school _left!_" She shouted.

"Starting today," Mr. Lancer continued as if he had not heard her.

"That's not fair, Mr. Lancer!" Danny said, standing.

"Yeah, it was _Dash_ who threw food in the first place!" Tucker said, standing as well.

"If anyone deserves detention, it's that brickhead," Sam said lazily, pushing her salad around with her fork.

"You three can join Miss Grey after school today."

They fell silent immediately, the boys quickly sitting back down in their seats. Valerie glowered at Mr. Lancer, shot a scathing glare toward Dash, and stormed out of the cafeteria.

"Great. Just great. I had an ultra-recyclo club meeting today. Now I'm going to be sitting in detention with Lancer and Valerie." Sam growled.

"Maybe it won't be so bad," Danny said. "I mean, at least we'll have each other in there. Right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, this is awesome!" Tucker said, grinning from ear to ear. Danny and Sam stared at him, glancing at each other. "I get to spend time with Valerie! FINALLY!"

Sam rolled her eyes while Danny laughed.

Three hours later, the bell rang, releasing the rest of their classmates. However, while the mad rush that filled the hallways flooded toward the doors, Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Valerie slowly trudged to the library.

"I still can't believe I'm in trouble for this," Valerie seethed mostly to herself. "I didn't even _throw_ the peas!"

"Good afternoon, children," The librarian said when they arrived. They mumbled their hello's and dropped their books on the empty tables. "You're going to be sorting books today, putting returned books back on shelves."

"I'll be checking in often, making sure you four behave," Lancer said, turning to the exit.

A collective groan passed through the four of them. "You two can start with A through L," the librarian pushed a cart crammed with books toward Valerie and Tucker, "while you two work on M through Z." She pushed an equally crammed cart toward Danny and Sam.

The four split up, each heading toward opposite sides of the library.

"This is ridiculous," Sam whispered. "We didn't even have food in our hands."

"Yeah, well, at least Tucker's getting his chance to make Valerie notice him," Danny whispered back. He shoved a book on the shelf and turned to Sam. "It's not that bad, to me. At least I get to do this with you,"

Sam stared at him, blushing. Danny felt heat rising in his own cheeks. "...and Tucker," he added.

She smiled, biting her lip._ God, she's beautiful_, Danny thought. _Her eyes...unbelievable_.

He continued staring at her as she sorted the books on the cart. His eyes roved over her pale face, free from any mark or blemish, before moving on to her long neck. He took in her small shoulders, her slender arms, tiny hands. Her stomach, partially revealed in the tank top she wore, was well-toned. Her legs were long and pale as her face. _Holy shit_, he thought. _She's...she's frickin' perfect. Like a frickin' angel._

"Danny?" Sam whispered. He shook his head, before smiling.

"Sorry, daydreaming,"

"Quit spacing out and help me!"

"Sorry! Jeez, don't kill me!"

"Don't give me any ideas, Fenton,"

He chuckled quietly. She flashed a radiant smile, before shoving three heavy books into his arms.

They continued on like this, sorting and whispering, until they realized that it was already past five.

"My mom and dad are probably freaking out right now," Danny groaned, rubbing his sore back.

"Sucks for you. My parents are out of town. Again." Sam's shoulders slumped, before she shook her head and smiled at him again.

Suddenly, Danny's ghost sense went off. He gasped, rolled his eyes, and whispered "Now? _Really?_"

"Go, I'll cover for you," Sam whispered. "Hurry up, though! I'm not finishing this by myself!"

Danny flashed into his alter-ego, forced invisibility on himself, and floated up above the bookshelves. He hovered there, glancing around for any signs of a ghost.

"I can't see anyone!" Danny whisper-shouted down to Sam.

"Maybe they're invisible?"

"Yeah, maybe -" Danny cut short, spotting the ghost in question.

Desiree was hovering over the desk, staring rather blankly at the wall. The librarian slumped in her seat, completely unconscious.

"Desiree!" Danny shouted, allowing himself to become visible again. The wishing ghost did not react.

"She does not answer to you, droll," A chilling, but familiar, voice drawled from below him. Danny's head snapped down.

Freak Show was leaning casually against a book shelf, smirking up at him. He had Sam in a head-lock; she was growling and lurching at him, trying to get free.

"Let her go!" Danny shouted.

"Danny?" Tucker's voice called from the other side of the library.

"What's going on?" Valerie called.

"It's time to get_ freaky!_" Freak Show shouted. His maniacle laughter filled the air as he snapped his fingers. Desiree raised her hand out before her.

Tucker and Valerie tumbled around the corner, catching sight of the scene. Valerie screamed in shock, while Tucker shouted, "Sam!"

Sam took advantage of Freak Show's momentary distraction with the new arrivals. She seized his arm and bit down - hard. He howled in pain, retracting his arm from around her neck. She stumbled forward, grabbing on to Tucker before she hit the ground.

"Oh, now you've done it!" Freak Show screamed. "_Slave!_ I wish that these imbiciles experience each of their worst fears, together!"

"_So you have wished it..._" Desiree murmured.

"Danny!" Jazz's voice rang out from the doorway of the library. She rushed toward the group of teenagers, attempting to fish the Fenton Thermos out from her purse.

_"...so shall it be."_

There was a bang, a flash of white light, and then dark, empty nothingness.

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><p>...and that's the end of that chapter.<p>

Chapter two will be up soon!

BUT I need at least two reviews. Flames are welcome. Let me know what you guys think so far, or if it's still too early to tell.

I love you guys.

Seriously.

(:


	2. The Calm Before The Storm

Hello peoples of earth!

I LIKE YOU.

Sooo this is chapter two.

As I'm sure you've noticed.

I don't own DP blah blah blah.

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><p><strong>Nightmares<strong>

**Chapter Two: **The Calm Before The Storm

"Danny? Danny, wake up. Please, Danny, wake up!"

Danny groaned. Sam was being so loud; he had been sleeping, after all. _Why is she being so loud?_

"Danny! Will you wake up? I know you're awake, Freak Show made Desiree put us in some wierd alternate universe!"

His eyes snapped open. Sam's face was above his, worry making her violet eyes sparkle. He sat up, glancing around as he did. He spotted Tucker, Jazz, and Valerie a few feet away; Tucker seemed to be talking very quickly to Valerie, who was staring at Danny. Jazz was holding on to Valerie's shoulders.

"She kind of...went bezerk just now," Sam murmured. "You flashed from Phantom to Fenton in front of her. She nearly strangled you."

"Oh. Good." Danny rolled his eyes, before flashing an apologetic smile at Valerie.

"I don't like you," She snarled.

"Great," Danny sighed, turning back to Sam. "Any idea where we are?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "Not a clue."

"Perfect," He stood, offering his hand to Sam and pulling her to her feet as well. "Listen, Valerie," He said as they approached. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...to ruin your life or anything like that. What happened that day was an accident, you've got to know that I would never, _ever_ do anything like that on purpose..."

She scowled at him. "You know what? ...whatever," She shoved Jazz's hands off of her shoulders. "When we get back to Amity, you're gonna get your butt kicked."

"But, until then, we're calling a truce," Tucker said quickly. He gave Valerie a look that said 'go with it, please' before continuing. "Okay, anyone have any ideas on where...exactly...we are?"

No one spoke.

"Okay...how about how to get out of here?"

Sam cleared her throat. "Well...you all heard Freak Show. 'I wish they would experience each of their personal nightmares together.' So, we're all going to experience each of our worst nightmares,"

The other four remained mute, their eyes widening in fear. "To...together?" Jazz squeaked.

Sam nodded gravely. "And I think they only way we're going to get out of here is by confronting them," She looked at each of them slowly, directly in the eyes. "We're going to face our worst nightmares. Our greatest fears will come to life. But we can't be afraid of them."

"How are we supposed to _not_ be afraid of our greatest fears?" Tucker demanded.

"How are you supposed to be afraid?" Sam countered, rounding on him. "You, Tucker, are Danny Phantom's best friend. You fight ghosts every other day, for crying out loud. Dangerous, blood-thirsty ghosts. And yet, you're afraid?"

Tucker dropped his gaze to the ground. He shuffled his feet and muttered, "S'not the same as my fear..."

"Who cares?" Sam said sharply. "Tucker, more than just getting out is at stake here."

"What do you mean?" Valerie asked.

"Our fears and nightmares are going to come to life. Meaning they will physically exist. Meaning they can cause physical damage."

"So...so you're saying that...we could...get hurt?" Jazz whispered.

"Get hurt. Die." Sam shrugged. "But that's only if we refuse to confront them. We have to face them head on. It's the only way."

Danny stared at her as she spoke. He'd never seen this side of her before. She looked so strong, so incredibly determined. _Well_, he thought, _I have seen this before, when she helps me ghost fight. But I've never seen this much strength..._

"It won't start until tomorrow. We need to make shelter, get some sleep," She set off, and Danny noticed his surroundings for the first time. They were standing in the clearing of a forest; the setting sun was blocked by the branches of towering trees above their heads. Dead leaves crunched beneath their feet, and in the distance, the sound of a small river trickling by reached their ears.

They split up, rooting around the forest floor for logs to be used as pillows for the night, and for deadened branches for firewood. Danny waited until the other three were out of sight, before catching up with Sam.

"Sam!" He called when he reached her. "How...how did you know all of that? About the nightmares and stuff,"

She smiled. "I'm a goth. I have to know about nightmares, fear, and how they work. It's...kind of in the job description."

He gulped. "Are you nervous?"

"About what?"

"Your...your nightmare. Everyone seeing it,"

She hesitated. "If...if I'm right," She whispered, closing her eyes and holding the branches in her arms closer to her chest, "no one will have to see it but me,"

"How is that possible? We're all experiencing everything together,"

"I know," She whispered. "It's...hard to explain," She sighed and opened her eyes, looking up at him sadly. "But I could be wrong,"

They ambled slowly back to the clearing, talking quietly. Tucker and Valerie were sitting beside a make-shift fire, leaning on the same log. They both turned and looked at the two when they reached earshot.

"You guys brought more firewood? Perfect," Valerie said, standing quickly and taking the wood from Sam. "Seen Jazz around?"

"I'm here," Jazz called. She was rolling two logs out from the trees.

"Jazz, why are you here? I mean, why were you in the library?" Danny asked, running to help her push the logs.

"Well, mom and dad were going nuts trying to figure out where you were, so they sent me to the school to pick you up," She said, wiping sweat off her brow. "Believe me, I would much rather be at home right now,"

Danny snorted.

"I think we all would, Jazz," Sam said, rolling her eyes.

The five teenagers sat around the fire for another hour or so, talking gravely about the events that would be occuring in the near future.

After Jazz, Tucker, and Valerie had dozed off, Danny turned to Sam. She had been quiet for some time, staring blankly into the fire.

"You okay?" Danny whispered, scooting closer to her. They were leaning on the same log, sitting so close he could feel the heat radiating from her legs.

She jumped and blinked, turning to look at him. "I'm...I'm okay," She whispered back. He saw her shiver.

"Here," He murmured. He pulled off the red and black checkered jacket he had been wearing; it was his favorite article of clothing. It had been a birthday gift from his parents. He wore it everywhere, no matter how hot. But he gladly handed it to Sam, who thanked him and wrapped it around her body. The jacket was huge on her small frame; she had to roll the sleeves three times in order to poke her hands out.

"You should get some sleep," She whispered, snuggling into the jacket. "Big day tomorrow. We're gonna need our strength,"

Danny nodded. He slid further down the log, shifting his body until he was semi-comfortable. He watched Sam do the same through his lashes, before drifting to sleep.

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><p>Yay for filler chapters.<p>

Chapter three...the action starts there.

*yawn* Alright peoples. I'm going night night now.

Seepy seepy time.

(:

Click the review button.

Type your opinion.

Submit.

Don't make me come over there.


	3. Clownocalypse

Chapter three!

This is _my_ worst fear. I couldn't help by put it in (:

I don't own DP obviously it's not mine like asdl;gkha;soid;altkad

Enjoy! (:

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><p><strong>Nightmares<strong>

**Chapter three:** Clownocalypse

Danny woke with a start. Something had been moving beneath his arms; upon further investigation, he realized that it was Sam.

He blushed, but did not retract his arms from around her waist. She was snuggled into him, her body heat radiating against his skin. He gasped at the way the moonlight made her skin shine, giving her an eerie, angelic glow.

She rolled over so that her face was toward his, and he was almost suprised by the fact that her eyes were wide open. She was staring up at him with such intensity that he almost removed his arms from around her.

As he moved to do this, she stopped him. "Don't...I'm freezing," She whispered. He nodded and tightened his grip around her. She sighed contentedly.

They stayed like this for another hour or so, Danny holding Sam while Sam slept. Danny was on the verge of sleep himself when they heard it.

A loud, creepy laugh, not unlike Freak Show's, echoed through the forest. It bounced off the trees and rolled on the forest floor. It rang in each of the teenager's ears, acting as an alarm clock.

They all sat bolt upright, clutching their hands over their ears and squeezing their eyes shut in an effort to block out the laughing.

"What is that?" Tucker shouted.

"It sounds like laughing!" Jazz screamed.

Sam dropped her hands, her wide eyes darting around the dark trees surrounding them. "It's starting!" She screamed, leaping to her feet.

The forest around them began to spin so fast it became a blur of green and brown. The teens screamed and ran to the center of the clearing, clinging to each other while the forest transformed itself.

When their surroundings finally became still, they were no longer in the forest. They were standing in the middle of a street in what appeared to be a very large city. It was abandoned; cars were overturned on the sidewalks, windows of the tall buildings surrounding them were busted out, several fire hydrants appeared to have been ripped out of the ground, allowing the water beneath to shoot into the air like gysers. It looked as if someone - or something - had attacked the inhabitants.

"Oh my God," Valerie whispered.

They all turned to her. She was pale, shaking, and looked as if she was going to be sick.

"Valerie, this is _your_ nightmare?" Sam asked, pushing through the others to stand in front of her. Valerie nodded, refusing to make eye-contact with Sam. "Where are we?"

"New York City," She whispered.

"Where is everybody?"

"Gone. Dead."

"Because of...what?"

Valerie hesitated. Her brown eyes flickered up to Sam's violet. Horror met courage. "_Clowns,_" She whispered the word so quietly, only Sam could hear.

"What?" Tucker said as Sam stumbled back from Valerie. "What's going on?"

"Valerie, where?" Sam said, ignoring Tucker.

Valerie lifted a shaking hand and pointed down the street. They all turned and gasped.

Thousands of clowns were mobbed together. They all leered down the street at the teens, who were slowly moving backwards, away from the mob. Danny tried to flash into Phantom, to find that he could not make the rings appear around his waist.

"I can't go ghost!" He whispered.

"Of course you can't, idiot," Sam whispered back. "This is _Valerie's_ dream. Phantom doesn't exist here.

"Valerie, this is your nightmare. You have to help us. Only you know where safety is," She muttered, turning to look at the trembling girl.

Valerie nodded. "Follow me. They're going to start chasing us."

She turned on her heel and sprinted down the street, the other four just behind her. They could hear shouting and screaming as the mob chased after them, their footsteps echoing off the walls of the buildings. They ran around the corner, Valerie making a bee-line for one building in particular. The door was standing open, allowing them to run inside. Valerie led them to a stairwell concealed behind an empty desk, racing up the stairs as they tumbled in after her. They ran up six flights of stairs before Valerie burst through the side door, which opened up to an abandoned office. The cubicles appeared ransacked. Danny stared around, gasping for air, as Valerie and Sam barracaded the door.

"Val, how does this dream end?" Sam gasped, clutching her sides.

"They find me. They always find me. They kill me, and then I wake up," she shuddered.

"Well, there won't be any waking up this time," Sam said shortly. "So we're gonna have to fight them." She turned and walked into the office, disappearing among the cubicles.

"Where are you going?" Jazz called.

"To find something to defend myself with. I suggest you guys do the same!" As she shouted it, the distant, muffled sounds of people running up the stairwell slipped beneath the door.

Valerie whimpered, but she and the others followed quickly after Sam.

"What are we supposed to use?" Tucker shouted somewhere to Danny's left.

"It's a dream, Tucker. Use your imagination!" Sam responded. Danny distinctly heard the clicking he associated with guns, coming from the same direction as Sam's voice.

The door leading to the stairwell was shaking now. Danny could barely hear the clowns behind it screaming over his thundering heart. He dove into the nearest cubicle, where a shotgun was laying across the desk. Danny stared at it for an instant before seizing it. It was fully loaded.

The side door banged open. Clowns began pouring in, screaming and gnashing their teeth, searching for the teens.

"Eat metal, freak!" He heard Sam scream. Gunshots rang out in the air, followed by screams of pain.

Danny dove out of the cubicle, catching sight of several clowns at the end of the aisle. He raised the gun just as they caught sight of him.

He closed his eyes when he shot. He didn't want to see what would happen. The dull thuds he heard told him the gun had done its' job.

He ran down the aisle, jumping over the clowns he'd shot as he did. When he rounded the corner, the scene that met his eyes was more horrific than anything he'd ever imagined.

Clowns were everywhere. They were crawling over each other, tearing at the walls of the cubicles, slamming against the windows. And Sam was in the middle of them. Her raven hair seemed to be flying as she spun and ducked, dodging attacks made by the clowns. Her lips were curled upward in a seemingly involuntary grin as she fought.

Tucker appeared, diving into the mob without so much as a backwards glance. A machete was clutched in his hands, and he screamed when he dove in. Several clowns fell around him, giving him space to run and help Sam.

Jazz leapt over the wall of a cubicle with a bazooka slung over her shoulder. She gave a battle cry before lunging after several clowns, dropping all of them easily.

Danny grinned in spite of the situation;_ that's my family for ya'_, he thought wryly.

Valerie's head poked from around the corner, her wide eyes full of terror as she watched. Tucker, Sam, and Jazz managed to defeat the mob; they panted and wiped blood out of their eyes.

"Valerie," Sam gasped. "You have to fight. We're never gonna get out of here if you don't fight,"

"Why?" She demanded, getting to her feet. "You guys seem to be doing a fantastic job," She gestured to the fallen clowns.

"Because this isn't _our_ nightmare! It's _yours!_ Valerie, surely you know that you can't get other people to fight your battles for you?" Sam stepped toward her. "You're one of the greatest ghost hunters in the _world._ Surely you can defeat a stupid clown?"

"How...how did you..." Valerie stared, dumbfounded, at Sam. but before she could get the question out of her mouth, a lone clown, drenched in blood, jumped off the ground and tackled Sam.

"Valerie!" Sam screamed, slamming into the ground. The clown was on top of her, pinning her to the ground. He raised his hand and swung down on Sam's face. She screamed; four long cuts appeared across her cheek where the clown had clawed her.

Danny lunged forward, raising the shot gun as he did. But before he could fire, the clown screamed, clutched its' neck, and toppled backwards off Sam.

Valerie gasped, lowering a dart gun. Danny's eyes darted back and forth between the dart gun, Sam, and the dart that had lodged itself in the clown's throat.

"Thanks for that," Sam whispered, sitting up and scooting away from the clown. Valerie nodded once, closing her eyes.

Sam stood. She stared down at the clown that had attacked her, wiping the small amount of blood that had oozed out of the cuts across her cheek away. She turned to the others.

"We're here for the night," Sam murmured. "We need to find somewhere to stay,"

"Somewhere to stay...in New York City?" Tucker asked, laughing. "I think we can pull that off!"

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><p>Mmmmkay so that's the first nightmare!<p>

Next chapter is going to deal a lot with details and the mechanics of nightmares.

You know what's coming next.

Review.

I love you.

(:


	4. Valerie's Confrontation

Soooo some of you guys have been trying to guess what the other nightmares are going to be.

I KNOW that, realistically, Danny's greatest fear would be becoming Dan, but as that is extremely difficult to portray in a nightmare, and even more difficult for the others to fight, I'm going to pretend that Danny's greatest fear is something else.

Please, don't kill me. I'm sorry. (:

So like I said before, this chapter deals with the details and mechanics of fear and nightmares (_**FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS STORY AND THIS STORY ALONE. IT IS COMPLETELY FICTIONAL AND I LITERALLY MADE IT UP AS I WENT. DON'T MISTAKE THE INFORMATION RELAYED IN THIS CHAPTER TO BE FACTUAL**_)

Sorry. Had to say it.

Just like I have to say that I OBVIOUSLYYYY don't own Danny Phantom. But I do own this plot line. MINE.

Enjoy (:

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><p><strong>Nightmares<strong>

**Chapter Four:** Valerie's Confrontation

"The Plaza?" Danny asked incredulously. The five teens were standing in front of the huge building dubbed The Plaza New York. "_Seriously?_"

"Hey, my dream," Valerie said. She stepped toward the door, which swung open with a single push.

"I _still_ don't understand how all of this works," Tucker said as Sam vaulted the front desk. "I mean, are we in a dream or is this really happening to us?"

"Both," Sam said, sifting through the drawers without looking up.

"Oh, well, thanks. That clears _that_ up." Tucker rolled his eyes.

"It's hard to explain." Sam said, lifting a room key over her head triumphantly. "This is a dream, but...it's come to life. Remember, we're in an alternate universe, so that's possible."

"Okay...okay..." Tucker clutched his head. "I don't get it,"

"Why don't we talk about this when we get up to the room?" Danny suggested. Sam nodded and rounded the desk. "What room is that to, anyways?"

"Why don't we ask Valerie?" Sam turned to face her, offering the key to her.

Valerie stared at the card, reaching slowly to take it from Sam. "Seriously?" She whispered. Sam nodded.

"_Penthouse,_" The girls grinned.

They boarded the elevator and punched the button that would take them to the penthouse.

Once inside, they gaped around at the spacious, luxurious room. It was huge, seemingly going on forever. The boys searched the kitchen for food while the girls went around the apartment, gathering pillows and blankets to be brought back to the main room of the apartment. They were all far too anxious to be sleeping seperately.

"Okay, so," Danny said after they were all settled. "Sam? Do you want to explain to us what's going on?"

The gothic beauty sighed. "Well, we're in an alternate universe, where dreams and reality have sort of...fused together. It's like a dream, in that if we imagine something, it'll come true, so long as it complies with certain rules."

"So why couldn't we have just...imagined the clowns away?" Tucker asked, glancing at Valerie.

"God knows I was trying," Valerie said, shivering. Tucker wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"That's why there were so many," Sam said. "There were way more clowns here than there usually are in this nightmare. Weren't there?"

"Yeah..." Valerie said slowly. "That was because I was trying to imagine them away?"

"Yes," Sam said. "Try to stay with me, it's going to get a little confusing. The clowns...weren't real,"

They stared at her. "But you said in the forest that they would be real." Jazz said slowly.

"And I'm pretty sure the fact that your face was shredded by one is proof that they were _definitely_ real," Danny said, pointing to the four thin cuts across Sam's cheek.

"Actually, I said our _fears_ and _nightmares_ would be real. When I say they weren't real, I don't mean they were just a figment of our imaginations," Sam rolled her eyes. "The clowns weren't real. But the fear was. Valerie's very real fear of them made them real. So wishing that they would disappear made it worse, since wishing that made the fear that much more real, more tangible. It was like throwing gasoline on a fire,"

"I'm a coward..." Valerie whispered.

"No, you're not," Sam said as Tucker tightened his grip on her shoulders. Valerie buried her face in his shoulder and cried. "Valerie, if anything, you're the bravest one of us all. You fought your fear first, you experienced it before any of us had to face ours. And you saved my life," She touched her knee lightly.

"Okay, so how do we get out of here?" Danny asked as Sam leaned back against the cushion she was resting against.

"The fear has to cease existing," Sam said, watching Valerie and Tucker. "Valerie has to stop being afraid,"

"I don't know if I can do that," Valerie sniffled. She peered at the other three with bloodshot eyes around Tucker's shoulder.

"I've said it once, I'll say it again," Sam said. "You're one of the best ghost hunters in the world. And you're afraid of some stupid guy with facepaint and a wig? Seriously, it's just a man under there. He won't hurt you. All those scary movies where the clown is the murderer are stupid. Clowns are harmless."

Valerie sat up a little straighter, staring at Sam as she spoke. "You beat the living crap out of Danny every other day. Danny's a freaking phantom! He has ghost powers, stuff that can seriously hurt people! And you're afraid of a guy who makes balloon animals for fun?"

"You know what?" Valerie whispered. "You're right. It's stupid that I'm afraid of clowns, isn't it? I mean, there are so many other things out there that are really terrifying."

There was a knock on the penthouse door. The teens froze, the color in their faces draining quite quickly. No one moved.

"Someone has to answer it," Jazz whispered.

Sam stood, ambling around the tangle of legs they had created. "Sam, no...!" Danny reached for her hand, attempting to pull her back toward him, but was too late.

She slid her hand around the doorknob slowly, casting one last glance at the others, before twisting the knob. The door eased open; a clown was standing in the doorway. Valerie gasped, but did not scream.

The clown simply stood, gazing into the room almost apologetically. He wore a sheepish grin beneath his red and white painted face, his sparkling green eyes trained on Valerie.

"Val, you know what you have to do," Sam whispered, ushering the clown inside.

Valerie nodded. She sucked in a deep breath, glanced at Tucker, and stood. The clown stepped cautiously toward her, keeping his eyes on the ground.

"Wh-what's your n-name?" Valerie asked him.

"Bobo," He said, flashing a quick toothy grin at her before returning his gaze to the ground.

"Bobo." Valerie repeated. She glanced at Sam, who nodded encouragingly at her. "You...you're a c-clown. And I'm _not_ afraid of you,"

Bobo's head snapped up. A huge grin split his face. "Well that's just grand to hear!" He shouted. He leapt toward Valerie, pulling her into a bone-crushing hug. She closed her eyes and stiffly patted him on the back. The other four teens burst into laughter.

"Alright, Bobo," Sam laughed as he pulled away from Valerie, still beaming. "Your job here is done,"

"What was that about?" Tucker asked, wiping away a tear as Valerie settled back down beside him.

"Valerie just confronted her fear," Sam smiled at her.

"Wait so...what was that clown apocalypse we went through?" Danny asked.

"Valerie's nightmare," Sam rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fears and nightmares are two completely different entities. Fears exist in our conscious and subconscious minds. Nightmares are the manifestations of those fears in our subconscious,"

"Oh,"

"It's a lot to have to process, I know. It took me weeks to figure this out."

"How _did_ you figure this out?" Danny asked, scooting closer to her.

"Books," she shrugged. She began toying with the zipper of his jacket, which was still around her body. "I've read a lot about dreams and nightmares, and I have a pretty good idea of how they work. I never knew that knowledge would ever actually come in handy, though,"

"You know, I'm actually kind of glad that you feel the need to know about weird stuff, Sam," Tucker said, chuckling lightly. Sam smiled in response, but Danny sensed a trace of sadness in her violet eyes.

They stayed in the apartment for the rest of that day, sitting around in a circle and talking. A few hours after the sun had dipped below the horizon, Valerie nodded off, leaning heavily against Tucker. Tucker himself appeared exhausted, but extremely pleased with the sleeping arrangements. He rested his cheek on Valerie's forehead, slowly drifting to sleep with a small grin on his face. Jazz was curled between Valerie and Danny, snoring lightly on her side. Sam was dozing on Danny's other side; her head continually sank downward slowly, before snapping up again as she jerked herself awake. After about four times of her doing this, Danny took pity on her.

"You can lean against me, if you want," He whispered, moving closer to her. She gazed at him groggily, before nodding and leaning into him. Her head nuzzled into the crook of his neck perfectly; his jacket creating the perfect blanket for her. She sighed as he snaked his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. She pulled the hood of the jacket up over her head, providing Danny with a cushioned surface to be used as a pillow.

And with that, the couple joined their friends in a fitful night of sleep.

* * *

><p>End scene (:<p>

Hokay, chapter five will be up tomorrow peoples.

And, hey. You guys make fun of me for being afraid of clowns. Not cool :P

I STILL LOVE YOU THOUGH (:

Review, review, gotta submit a review, if you don't I'll find you and sing Friday really loud, oh yes, that's right, the one by Rebecca Black, so review if you know what's good for youuu...


	5. Killer Roommate

OH HAI.

Guys...this chapter was so hard to write. You don't understand. It's a lot shorter than the other two because I can't take it seriously. It was so cheesy.

Because I got this idea from the dumbest scary movie I've ever seen.

I don't own DP. Or the stupid movie Jazz mentions at the end of this chapter.

* * *

><p><strong>Nightmares<strong>

**Chapter Five: **Killer Roommate

Danny awoke slowly, savoring the warmth against his chest that was Sam. He breathed in deeply, memorizing the way she smelled. His eyes opened slowly, enjoying the smoothness of her skin, the way her cheeks were slightly flushed and tinged with red. He smiled in spite of himself at the innocence in her face.

That innocence, however, was disturbed when her brows knitted together. Danny watched as her face began to contort in worry and fear. She shook her head, as if trying to rid an irksome thought. "No..." She mumbled in her sleep. "No...Tasha_...no_..."

Suddenly, her eyes flew open. She screamed and twisted away from Danny, rolling onto her side.

"No, Sam! Calm down, it was only a bad dream, everything's okay! Relax!" Danny whisper-shouted, grabbing Sam around her middle and dragging her back. She stared at him, confusion in her eyes, before slowly allowing him to pull her against his chest again.

"Sorry," She whispered. "Did I scream?"

"Yeah, but don't worry, I don't think it woke the others up," Danny glanced at the other three; they were all still sound asleep.

"Sorry," She repeated.

"It's okay, really," He gave her a gentle squeeze as she buried her face in his chest. "Are you okay?"

She hesitated. "I...I don't know," She admitted. "I mean, I know I've been acting all tough and ready to conquer these nightmares, but...I'm freakin' terrified of mine."

"That's totally natural. I would be worried if you weren't afraid of your nightmare," Danny chuckled.

"I'm just afraid that...you guys will get hurt," She whispered, playing with the fibers of his shirt.

"What_ is_ your nightmare, Sam?"

"I don't want to talk about it until we get there,"

"...okay, I can respect that."

"Thank you,"

They stayed in their positions, Sam curled into Danny's side, Danny holding Sam close, until the sound of Freak Show's laughter tore through the air again.

"Not _again_," Jazz groaned, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

They stood and retreated to the center of the room as the walls began spinning. The colors began changing into bright greens and browns, making Danny think they were back in a forest of some kind. But, as the walls began to slow, he realized that they were not in a forest, but, in fact, on a college campus.

"Oh _shit_," Jazz whispered. "This is my nightmare,"

"Jazz, your nightmare is going to _college?_" Danny asked incredulously. "Seriously? You've been talking about going to college for the last four years. How is _this_ your nightmare?"

"You'll see," She whispered.

"What school is this?" Sam asked, looking around curiously.

"Yale," Jazz muttered.

Sam gasped. "Jazz, I know what your nightmare is!" She shouted, jumping in front of her. "It's just a movie! It was only a movie, nothing more!"

"What's going on?" Danny asked, extremely disturbed at the amount of terror in his sister's eyes.

"I'm so scared," Jazz whispered

"I know you can do this," Sam said, grabbing Jazz's shoulders.

Jazz nodded once, grabbing Sam's hand. She began marching down the sidewalk, heading toward what appeared to be a dorm. Danny, Tucker, and Valerie trailed behind the two girls, their wide eyes taking in the college and its' inhabitants.

"This is it," Jazz mumbled. They were in the dorm building, standing outside a bare door. There was no one else in the hallway.

"Be strong, Jazz." Sam whispered. Jazz dropped her hand, grabbed and twisted the doorknob, and pushed the door open.

"Hi! I'm Rebecca," A voice slithered out from the dark room. Jazz shuddered. "What's your name?"

"J-Jazz," Jazz whispered.

"Jazz. That's a beautiful name. You're a beautiful girl. Too beautiful for your own good."

Jazz took a cautious step inside, Sam on her heels.

"Who's your friend?" Rebecca's voice changed; it had been dripping honey before, it now seethed with with venom.

"I'm Sam." Sam said loudly. "What of it?"

"Stay. Away. From my. Roommate." Danny's eyes widened, catching sight of a glint of silver in Sam's palm. A small knife slid between her fingers; she pushed the hilt into Jazz's hand.

"Not a chance, _freak_," Sam said coolly. She threw her arm around Jazz's neck. "Jazzy's like a sister to me. I'm not going anywhere."

"You just made a _big_ mistake," Rebecca hissed.

A pale hand shot out of the darkness, seizing Sam's wrist and yanking her into the shadows of the room.

"_Sam!_" Tucker and Danny cried at the same time. Valerie gasped, Jazz screamed. The sounds of a struggle could be heard, feminine screaming tearing into their ears. Jazz dove into the room, followed quickly by the other three. Tucker groped the wall, searching for a lightswitch.

When the lights flashed on, they saw that the majority of the furniture in the room had been overturned. Pillows had been torn apart, feathers drifting through the air like snow.

Sam was on her back on the ground, wrestling with a small blonde girl they assumed was Rebecca. Rebecca was brandishing a boxcutter over Sam's head; the only thing stopping her from plunging the blade into Sam's heart was Sam's hand wrapped tightly around her wrist. Jazz was attempting to pull Rebecca off of Sam.

"Jazz!" Sam gasped. "Kill her!"

Jazz swung her fist upward, the blade of the knife pointing down. She swung down, allowing the blade to sink into Rebecca's back. Rebecca screamed and dropped the boxcutter, which sliced Sam's upper arm as it clattered to the floor. Sam shoved Rebecca off of her, letting her roll, lifeless, half-way under a bed. Before the other three could even move to help Sam, Jazz was clinging to Sam, sobbing into her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" she cried.

"Jazz, calm down. It's okay, I'm fine," Sam said, patting her soothingly on the back.

Valerie knelt beside Sam, examining the cut across her arm. "This needs to be bandadged," she murmured. She tore a strip of pillowcase away from a pillow and wound it tightly around the cut.

"Thanks," Sam sighed. The three girls got to their feet and hugged.

"I don't understand," Tucker said. "I mean, why did Rebecca attack Sam and not Jazz?"

"Yeah, I don't get that either," Jazz whispered. "I mean, usually, she attacks and kills_ me_, and then I wake up. I don't understand why she went after you, Sam,"

The four gazed at Sam. "I...I don't know," She said. "I really don't, I was thinking about that myself when it was happening. I really don't understand,"

"And that's not the first time this has happened either. That clown from my dream attacked you, too," Valerie said.

"I don't know!" Sam shouted, throwing her arms over her head. "Maybe it's because I'm a goth, I'm attracted to darkness, so darkness is attracted to me? I don't know."

"Let's just go find a room to stay in," Danny suggested quickly. Sam gave him a greatful smile and nodded.

"Okay, but I'm not staying in this dorm building," Tucker said, glancing down at Rebecca and shivering. "What movie was this from, anyways?"

"The Roommate," Jazz said, stepping out of the dorm.

* * *

><p>HAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh man I can't even type it without cracking up.<p>

I did my best to make it as serious as possible...

H'anyways.

. . (:


	6. Jazz's Confrontation

You guys are BLOWING ME AWAY with the reviews!

Like holy woah! I love it! (:

Mkay.

This chapter is titled 'Jazz's Confrontation' but I'm letting you know now that other important things happen toward the end of the chapter.

These tings you must bemember.

Kay? Kay.

I no owny the Danny Phantom. I DO OWN YOU.

Not really. I lied.

(:

* * *

><p><strong>Nightmares<strong>

**Chapter Six:** Jazz's Confrontation

The five wandered through the campus of Yale, searching for an empty dorm building. The other students seemed to have disappeared; not a single soul was in sight, apart from them.

"Okay, so, remind me again how we get into the next dream?" Tucker said. He was walking extremely close to Valerie; their hands brushed repeatedly as they swung their arms.

"Jazz has to confront her fear," Sam said. She was walking between Danny and Jazz, slightly ahead of Tucker and Valerie. "We need to figure out where we're staying, first, though," she gave Jazz a meaningful glance.

"Over here," Jazz sighed. She led them to an abandoned building; the door was open. They crept inside and climbed the stairs to the third floor. Very large, spacious suites were here: "These are for four or more people living together," Jazz explained.

They chose the dorm closest to the stairs. Tucker and Danny dragged five beds out of the bedrooms into the cramped living room, setting them up in a circle so that the foot of each bed was touching the others.

"Oh my gosh, this is a _fully-loaded_ bathroom!" Valerie gasped. She had discovered a bathroom connected to the largest bedroom. "TWO SHOWERS!"

"I call dibs!" Jazz and Valerie shouted at the same time.

"You girls go ahead, I can wait," Sam said when they both gazed at her apologetically. She flopped onto the couch as the other two girls squealed and raced around the corner.

Tucker and Danny joined Sam on the couch. They were silent, waiting to hear the sounds of the shower starting.

"Seriously, Sam," Tucker said when the water started running. "Why are the nightmares attracted to you?"

"If I knew, Tuck, I would have said so in the dorm," Sam said through gritted teeth. She pulled Danny's jacket off and thrust it back in his hands. "Maybe I'm just not having the best luck,"

"You don't think Johnny 13's shadow is here, do you?" Danny whispered, glancing over his shoulder as he did.

"Your ghost sense would have gone if," Tucker pointed out. "Maybe it's just a fluke?"

"No. I think something else is going on. There's a reason they're attracted to me, I just don't know what it _is!_" Sam said, pounding her fists into the cushions of the couch.

"I think it's a fluke," Tucker said.

"There's only one way to find out," Danny said quickly before Sam could shoot an angry response back at Tucker. "In the next nightmare, Sam, you just need to hang back. Let us do the fighting, you stay out of harm's way,"

"Well that's not fair!" She said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It's the only way we're going to be able to tell if it's a fluke or not!" Danny said. "Ours are the only nightmares left to handle. Assuming the next nightmare isn't yours, Sam, I don't think you should fight. Just hang in the back, away from the action, and we'll see what's going on,"

Sam huffed, but nodded. "Fine. Whatever."

A few minutes later, the water stopped. Valerie and Jazz appeared around the corner, drying their hair on white, fluffy towels. Their clothes tattered and stained with blood from Valerie's nightmare, but otherwise, they were totally clean and looked extremely happy about it.

"My turn!" Sam said, leaping off the couch. But before she could make it around the corner, there was a knock at the door.

"Aw, _man,_" Jazz whimpered, ducking behind Valerie.

"Relax. You're gonna be fine," Sam said, going to answer the door.

A petite brunette girl with large, sparkling brown eyes stood in the doorway when Sam opened the door. Her hair was short and spiked; her ears were pierced twice in each lobe and once in the cartilidge. She smiled at Jazz, who timidly smiled back.

"Hi!" The girl said,

"H-hi," Jazz mumbled as she stepped around Valerie.

"My name's Cassandra, but you can call me Cass or Cassy," Cass smiled. "I'm your future roommate!"

"You...you are?"

"Yep. We're going to be great friends, believe me. You're actually going to be my maid of honor in my wedding!" Cass laughed. "College is fun, but it's even better with you as my roommate. I can't wait for you to meet me in real life!"

"Me either!" Jazz said earnestly. She rushed forward and hugged Cass, who giggled girlishly and hugged her back.

"Nice to meet you, Cass," Sam said, leaning against the door and watching the girls hug with a smile on her face.

"Sam!" Cass shouted. She leapt forward and hugged Sam tightly, who patted her confusedly on the back. "Oh man, you're _so_ awesome! You and Danny come visit Jazz _all_ the time!"

"I...we do?" Danny said. Heat rose in his face as he stared at Sam, who was staring back at him, dombfounded.

"Oh! Oh I get it!" Cass said, glancing back and forth between them. "You guys don't know yet...okay, cool! See you guys soon!" Cass waved and stepped out of the dorm, shutting the door behind her.

"That...was..." Jazz started to say, stumbling backwards and looking back and forth between Danny and Sam.

"Weird." Valerie finished. She, too, was looking between the two, a knowing smile gracing her lips.

"_Gross,_" Tucker said, shivering.

"I'm...getting in the shower now," Sam said. She turned and walked quickly around the corner, refusing to meet Danny's gaze.

"Awkward," Tucker sang. He dropped onto one of the beds and laughed.

"Shut up, Tuck," Danny growled.

Hours later, when everyone had showered, they were settled back in their circle. They had been playing Truth or Dare for some time, mostly sticking with Truth. Of course, there was the occasional dare, always for Tucker, where he was forced to stick his head out the window of the dorm and scream things like "I'M TUCKER FOLEY, DON'T LET THE GLASSES AND PDA FOOL YOU, I'M A STUD!" But, mostly, it was truth.

"Okay, Danny," Jazz said, turning to him. "Truth or dare?"

"Um..._dare_," He felt adventurous; the awkward tension that had been between him and Sam had long since disappeared, putting him in a fantastic mood. He felt prepared to do anything.

"Okay...I dare you to...kiss Sam," Jazz giggled. Tucker gave her a high-five. _Well, almost anything_, he thought as his heart sank.

Sam was watching him when he turned to look at her. A single eyebrow was arched. "It _is_ a dare," she shrugged.

He leaned toward her. Their lips met for the breifest second; fireworks exploded in his head when he felt the softness of her lips moving on his, the smell of her shampoo raiding his nose, taking control of his mind and putting it in a cloudy, stupified haze.

It only lasted a second before she pulled away, smiling at him. "Okay, next!"

"Wait a second," Danny said. He slapped his hand to his forehead. "I've just realized something!"

"What?" they all said at the same time.

"How did Freak Show get control of Desiree?" He asked. "I mean, I broke the orb thing he hypnotized me with a while back, and he doesn't have the reality gauntlet...so how did he get control of her?"

"Where in the world did that thought come from?" Valerie asked.

Danny blushed and muttered, "Does it matter?" He knew exactly where it had come from. He had been thinking about how kissing Sam was amazing, like the feeling he got when she hugged him the way she did after he had dove off a speeding train to catch her as she plummeted to the rocky ground below, thanks to Freak Show.

"Hm...I don't know," Sam said. She brought a hand to her chin as she thought. "Maybe he's made a new orb thingy?"

"He didn't have one in the library," Tucker remembered.

"Huh...I don't know," Sam repeated.

Valerie yawned. "I'm beat," She said, stretching her arms up over her head. "I think I'm gonna go ahead and go to sleep. See you guys tomorrow,"

"Bright and early." Jazz said.

They all sank down beneath the blankets on their beds, and sank into a rather peaceful slumber.

* * *

><p>YAY FOR CUTE AWKWARDNESS.<p>

And it only gets fluffier from here.

Yay.

You should review. If you liked it, review. If you hated it, review. Just, please, review. Save me from insanity.


	7. Robotic Irony

Oh, hello. I know you. (:

Chapter seven...is a little graphic. I tried to keep it minimal, with the least amount of descriptive words as possible while still functioning, but...you've been warned.

ILOVEYOU(:

What I DON'T love is that I DON'T own Danny Phantom and I NEVER will. :P

H'enjoy (:

* * *

><p><strong>Nightmares<strong>

**Chapter Seven:** Robotic Irony

Freak Show's laughter shocked Danny awake for a third time. He rolled out of bed, not without noticing that Sam's bed was empty. He gazed around, searching for the darkly-dressed object of his affections.

He spotted her sitting beside the window as the others sat up, groaning with displeasure. Sam sighed and stood, joining the group in the center of the circle of beds. The walls began to spin as the teens rubbed their eyes groggily, leaning into each other.

When the walls sat still again, they were standing in the middle of what appeared to be an industrial factory. It, like the setting of Valerie's nightmare, was completely abandoned.

"God, _how_ did I know I was next?" Tucker moaned. The eerie sound of metallic footsteps could be heard echoing on the catwalks above them.

"Remember, Sam, stay out of the way," Danny whispered to her. She nodded and slipped behind him.

"Tucker, what is your nightmare?" Valerie asked, grabbing his arm.

"Robots," He whispered.

The other four stared at him.

"The techno-geek...is afraid of _robots?_" Jazz gaped.

"Not _just_ robots," Tucker snarled. He grabbed Valerie's hands and led her between two large machines, the other three following quickly behind, toward a small closet beneath a set of stairs. He ripped the door open and shoved Valerie inside.

"_Hey!_" She shouted as she tumbled inside. She landed heavily on her butt, staring up at Tucker incredulously.

"You'll be safe here," Tucker whispered. He appeared to be in a complete panic. "They don't come this way. They always follow me,"

Danny immediately seized Sam by the wrist and shoved her into the closet with Valerie.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," She said, pulling Valerie to her feet. "You guys are just locking us in here? This is barberic."

"Maybe, but you'll be safe here," Danny said, slamming the door on her angered face.

"So, what kind of robots are these, exactly...?" Jazz asked as they pulled guns out of a box beneath an assembly line.

"Flesh-stealing," Tucker muttered.

Danny and Jazz exchanged a glance, before staring at Tucker. "They steal flesh? Like, as in, _human _flesh?" Danny asked.

"Yes,"

"I don't even _want_ to know," Jazz rolled her eyes.

They ducked behind the machinery around the assembly line, peering cautiously around the legs supporting the belt. They could see the robots marching down the stairs; they resembled metallic skeletons, complete with wire veins. Their robotic eyes scanned the factory floor, searching for signs of life.

"Now or never!" Tucker screamed. He jumped out from his hiding place and began firing his gun. Several robots dropped with a clang, causing the others to turn toward the noise.

As they advanced toward Tucker, a sudden idea came to Danny. He raised his gun and pointed it upward, aiming for the small pipes running along the ceiling. One well-aimed shot clipped a pipe, causing it to burst. Water rained down, drenching Danny, Tucker, and Jazz, and short-circuiting the robots.

"That was...really easy," Jazz said, staring down at the fried robots. "_Too_ easy."

"The fire alarm," Tucker whispered, staring at Danny. "Why didn't I ever think of that?"

"Because you weren't thinking like Sam," Danny said, grinning widely at his best friend.

"Speaking of Sam," Jazz said, stepping over the robots toward the staircase, "We should probably let her and Valerie out now,"

"You're right,"

However, when they reached the closet, they found the door standing partially open. Valerie and Sam were no where to be seen.

"Val!" Tucker shouted.

"Sam!" Danny screamed.

There was a brief silence, before the air was torn by a shrill, piercing scream.

"Shit! Shit, shit,_ shit!_" Tucker swore, racing up the stairs. Danny and Jazz were on his heels.

When they reached the catwalk, they spotted both girls. They were attempting to fight off a lone robot, who had the ingenious idea of sheilding itself from the water still spitting from the pipes with a long strip of scrap metal.

"Nothing's working!" Sam screamed, dropping what appeared to be a very long sword. She was in front of Valerie, her arms spread in front of the girl protectively, sheilding her from the attacking robot.

"Hang on!" Danny shouted. He shoved past Tucker and raced up behind the robot, seizing the scrap metal and tearing it away from its' hands. The water began seeping into the robot's hardware, making it jerk and spark.

But that did not stop it from latching on to Sam and Valerie's arms. The girls screamed in pain, ripping their arms out of the robot's grasp. Bits of their flesh were ripped away from their arms; they tumbled backwards in pain. Valerie landed slightly below Sam, sending Sam rolling off the edge of the catwalk. She screamed and grabbed the edge just before plummeting to the factory floor.

"SAM!" Danny screamed. He leapt over the robot and grabbed Sam's wrist, pulling her to safety. She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder.

"Holy _shit_," She mumbled. Her voice shook. "Holy shit, holy shit,_ holy shit_..."

"It's okay, you're okay. I've got you. You're okay," Danny whispered, rocking her back and forth gently and tangling his fingers in her feather-soft raven hair.

"What the_ hell_ kind of twisted nightmare was_ that?_" Jazz demanded as Tucker hugged Valerie tightly. "Seriously! What is _wrong_ with you? How messed up do you have to_ be_ to dream of something like _that?_"

"Jazz, chill," Danny said, helping Sam to her feet. "Leave him alone."

"So, that whole 'nightmares attacking Sam' thing being a fluke?" Valerie said, examining the place on her arm where the flesh had been torn away after Tucker released her. "That's BS. They really are attracted to her."

"I don't know why," Sam whispered. "We stayed in the closet, even though I really wanted to get out and help fight, but one of the robots found us. It chased us all the way up here." She was trembling, her face pale. "I don't know why," she repeated.

Danny stared at her. He stared at the four thin cuts across her cheek, the slice on her upper arm concealed by a bloody strip of pillow case, and now, the patch of her arm that lacked flesh.

"The why doesn't matter," he murmured, even though he was starting to have an inkling of why they were viciously attacking his beautiful best friend, but was terrified of sharing it with the rest of the group. "What matters is you two are safe."

Tucker nodded vehemently. "For a second I thought...I thought I was going to lose you,"

He was staring at Valerie when he said it. Their eyes locked. They began moving slowly toward each other, their faces just inches apart. Suddenly, Valerie's lips crashed against Tuckers; they were kissing fiercely, wrapping their arms around each other in a futile attempt to pull the other closer, even though their bodies were already smashed against the other.

"Ew," Jazz said.

"What am I, a salad?" Sam muttered, grinning in spite of herself at the new couple.

* * *

><p>Okay, I KNOWWW it's confusing, but I promise, Tucker's worst nightmare being robots <em>will<em> be addressed in his confrontation chapter. It will make sense then!

YAY FOR T/V :D

You guys...all of the reviews you've been submitting have been awesome. I'm loving the encouragement and the fact that you guys are actually speculating about what the fears and nightmares will be. IT'S FREAKIN' AWESOME!

Don't stop submitting. Tell yo friends.

I love you so so so so so so so so so so so much. More than Danny loves Sam. (That's a lot) (:


	8. Tucker's Confrontation

Okay this chapter is wayyy shorter than the other ones. There's not a lot to this one, other than some T/V fluff and a little hit-and-miss D/S. Sorry.

The next chapter will be mucho better-o.

I actually didn't think I was gonna be able to get this one done tonight. Yay (:

To clarify, from this point on in the story, Tucker and Valerie are a couple. They are dating. And, again, in this story, **_I am pretending that Danny's worst fear is something other than becoming Dan. If you are expecting that, you will be disappointed_.** FYI.

I don't own Danny Phantom.

I am WORN OUT. This story is taking a lot out of me, haha.

Enjoyyyy (:

* * *

><p><strong>Nightmares<strong>

**Chapter Eight:** Tucker's Confrontation

"You guys wanna stop making out long enough for us to figure out where we're gonna sleep tonight?" Danny asked impatiently.

Tucker and Valerie pulled away from their embrace, gasping for air, but grinning idiotically at each other.

"Hello? Earth to lovebirds?" Sam called, snapping her fingers in front of their faces. They blinked and shook their heads, their cheeks flushing a deep crimson. "Where are we sleeping?"

"Downstairs," Tucker said. He took Valerie's hand in his own, grinning shyly at her, and led the group down the stairs. They stepped lightly over the mass of robots, staring at them as they went. It was like driving by a car accident; every part of them yearned to look away, but they found that they just couldn't tear their eyes away from the tangled mob of robot body parts and wires.

Tucker led them around the back of the staircase, where a small hallway gave way to a control room. He dropped Valerie's hand and walked to a supply closet.

"There are cots in here," He explained in a muffled voice from within the closet. "We can sleep on these tonight,"

Danny helped him extract the cots and set them up in the usual circle they formed between nightmares. They sat and talked for hours, wondering when Tucker would be forced to confront his fear.

"'Kay, techie," Jazz said, pulling her pillow into her lap. "Care to explain why your nightmare was _robots_, of all things?"

He sighed. "Well, I guess it has to do with my worst fear," He said, glancing at Sam. She nodded once, her violet eyes sparkling with curiousity. "My greatest fear is that technology, the thing I love more than anything in the world - until now -" he flashed an adoring smile at Valerie, "would turn on me. And that's exactly what happened in this dream. Technology was evil and was trying to kill me to use me."

"Wow." Sam whispered. "Just..._wow_. You know that could never happen, right?"

Tucker stared at her, contemplating her statement.

There was a gentle scratching sound that came from the locked door of the control room. Sam sighed and stood, padding softly over to the door and opening it.

A robot skeleton was standing in the threshold. Tucker groaned lightly, but stood and walked toward it.

"H-hello," He said. Sam leaned against the door, watching Tucker and the robot with an air of amusement, similar to the expression she wore when Jazz met Cassy.

The robot did not respond. It stood and stared at Tucker, who stared back. Slowly, making light whizzing noises as it went, it raised its' hand and extended it to Tucker. Tucker stared at the robotic hand, his eyes wide, before glancing at Sam, who gave him a look that said, 'Shake its' hand, moron!'

With a single trembling hand, Tucker reached out and grasped the metalic hand of the robot. Their arms bobbed up and down; Tucker's face split into a wide grin.

"This is so _cool!_" He said, giggling like a school girl.

"Alright, alright, go back to making out with your girlfriend," Sam said, rolling her eyes. The robot released Tucker's hand and retreated down the hallway as Sam closed the door and locked it again.

"So who do you guys think is going to be next?" Jazz asked when Sam and Tucker were settled again. Six eyes rested on Danny and Sam, who glanced at each other.

"I dunno," Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Sam bit her lip and shrugged. Dark circles hung beneath her eyes; her eyelids were drooping.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" Danny asked her quietly when the other three launched their own conversation, speculating what Danny's nightmare and fear was.

"No," She yawned. "I can't risk having that nightmare again,"

"Sam, is your arm burning too?" Valerie asked, holding her arm out in front of her as if it were on fire.

"A little," She admitted, glancing down at her newest wound with an expression one would wear when examining a particularly interesting book in a library.

"There's a first aid kit in the closet," Tucker said, rolling off the cot and dashing into the closet. He appeared moments later, brandishing the kit at the group.

Danny set off cleaning Sam's wounds, slightly apart from the other three. "You know, you're gonna need to sleep to face your nightmare," He whispered.

"I know," She mumbled. "I just don't want to face it any more times than absolutely necessary,"

He paused in his efforts to wrap a bandadge around her newest wound. Tears were building in her eyes; she was blinking quickly, turning her face away from him in an effort to hide them.

His hand caught her chin, forcing her to look up at him. Their eyes locked, much like Tucker and Valerie's had earlier. They were slowly moving toward each other, their lips slightly parted, before -

"Hey, pass me the pain killers," Tucker said. Danny jerked away, dropping his hand from Sam's chin, and forcing the bottle of pills into Tucker's hand.

_Great. Just perfect_, he thought. _I was so_ close...

* * *

><p>Teh eind.<p>

Ghood tymes.

Oh mah goodness, guys. I'm so tired!

I'm gonna go to bed and get some seepy seep.

So that when I start writing first thing in the morning, the last few chapters will be FREAKIN' KICK-BUTT AWESOME.

Hey, so, see that little button down there?

The one that says "Review this story"?

Click it.

Type a review.

Submit it.

Seriously, I will hunt you down and beat you with...my shoe.

I'm wearing TOMS.

Oh yeah.


	9. Horrific Torture

Howdy (:

Chapter nine...guys, I worked so hard on this. It took me three hours to write this, which is pathetic, since it's actually rather short.

Gah. I hope you guys enjoy this...

I don't own Danny Phantom, but Butch does (:

Without further ado, I give you CHAPTER NINE!

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Nightmares<strong>

**Chapter Nine:** Horrific Torture

He wasn't sure when he fell asleep, but when Danny woke up, the air was still silent. He was facing Jazz, who was sound asleep. Rubbing his eyes sleepily, he rolled over to face Sam.

She was sitting up on her cot, her knees drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped around her knees. Her face was buried in her knees; for a moment, Danny thought she was sleeping, until he saw her shoulders shaking.

"Sam?" He whispered. He rolled off of his cot and slid onto Sam's. He wrapped his arms around her shaking frame as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. He felt hot tears on his skin, causing him to draw her closer. She cried silently into him while he rocked her gently back and forth. They did not speak; the silence between them was comfortable.

At the sound of Freak Show's laughter, Sam heaved a heavy sigh and turned her face away from Danny. "Thanks," She whispered as the others sat up.

"A-Anything for you," He mumbled quietly. He felt stupid saying it, but he forced them out of his mouth. She peered at him through her raven hair and smiled lightly.

The walls began to spin as the teens stood in the center and stretched.

"Here we go again," Tucker groaned.

The walls began to slow. A most familiar scene was beginning to slow down around them.

"Hey! We're home!" Valerie said happily. She hugged Tucker and laughed.

"But how? We never faced Danny or Sam's nightmares!" Jazz said, turning to Danny. Tucker and Valerie broke their embrace and turned to Danny as well.

"Well, this isn't_ my_ nightmare," Danny said, throwing his hands up.

"It's mine,"

Sam's terrified whisper silenced the other four. They all turned to her, and found her back was to them. She was looking up at her house. Danny stared at it as well. It looked almost exactly the way it did when they had been sucked into this nightmare, except the drapes in the windows were different. They looked much older; and as Danny stared up at Sam's bedroom window, he realized with a start that the drapes were a light, frilly pink as opposed to the heavy black he recalled.

"We have to go inside," Sam said, turning to the others. "When we get in there, you guys need to go upstairs to my room. Lock yourselves in._ Don't_ come out, no matter _what_ you hear going on downstairs. I'll come up and get you when it's finished."

"But don't you nee-?" Tucker started.

"No." Sam cut him off. "If you guys are downstairs when it starts...you'll be killed."

They stared at her.

"Sammy!" A voice called from the front door. Sam winced and squeezed her eyes shut. A girl was standing in the doorway to Sam's house; she had shockingly red hair and a huge smile on her face; as Danny looked, he realized that the girl's face closely resembled Sam's.

"T-Tasha," Sam said quietly.

"Sammy, I missed you so much!" Tasha screamed. She ran down the stairs and threw her arms around Sam's neck. Sam did not hug the girl back; she merely stood and allowed the girl to hug her.

"I...missed you too, Tash," Sam whispered.

"Who are your friends?" Tasha asked, releasing Sam and staring at the other four.

Danny glanced at the others; he didn't quite understand what was happening, and he could tell by the others' expressions that they didn't either. What was going on?

"Valerie, Tucker, Jazz, and Danny," Sam whispered, pointing to each as she said it. "Guys, this is...m-my cousin, Natasha,"

"It's nice to meet you!" Natasha said, smiling widely at them. She turned to Sam. "We need to go inside, since we're home alone. I was thinking, do you want to play hide-and-seek?"

"Uh...um...okay," Sam mumbled.

Natasha spun around and ran back into the house, pausing in the doorway to shout, "Come on!"

"Go inside. To my room. Don't come out. Promise me." Sam growled. Valerie, Tucker, and Jazz all nodded. "_Danny._" Sam hissed.

He felt his heart beating erratically in his chest. _Why does she not want anyone to see it? Is it really that bad?_ "Why can't we help you?" He asked.

"It's complicated. I'll explain everything later, I swear. You're just gonna have to trust me,"

"O-Okay," Danny said. "I promise."

Sam led the gang into her home. It looked almost exactly the way Danny remembered it from his most recent visit; only a few small trinkets were missing from the bookshelves against the walls. Sam stepped slowly toward the staircase, turning to the other four and pointing up the stairs.

"Remember, no matter _what_ you hear, do _not_ come out of that room until I come up there and tell you it's okay," She said as they climbed the stairs. Danny felt a prickling on the back of his neck as he walked away from her.

Tucker led the four down the hall toward Sam's room. He swung the door open and gasped; her room was absolutely drenched in pink. They stepped in slowly, the door clicking behind Danny. He locked it and stared at the room.

"Well, it is _Sam's_ nightmare," Tucker said, dropping onto Sam's bed. "Pink makes sense,"

Danny began examining the objects on Sam's desk. Pictures of Natasha and a very young-looking Sam were all over the place. Sam was smiling in every single picture; the smile was more genuine than any Danny had seen in the years he rememberd being friends with her.

"Tuck, how old is Sam in this picture?" Danny asked, holding a picture up.

"I don't know...seven, eight?" Tucker said, examining the picture.

"That was the year after we became friends with her," Danny recalled.

"Wait, I remember that!" Jazz said suddenly. Danny and Tucker turned and stared at her. "Something happened to her that year...I remember overhearing mom and dad talk about it,"

"Well, what was it?" Danny asked sharply.

"I don't know, I was only nine or ten then, that was, like, eight or nine years ago," Jazz shrugged.

Before Danny was able to question her any further, a voice screamed, "SAM, RUN!"

A shrill scream tore through the air. "TASHA! NO!"

Danny leapt toward the door. "Danny, you _promised_ Sam you'd stay!" Jazz shouted, jumping between Danny and the door, blocking his exit.

They could hear a tremendous amount of noise coming from downstairs. Heavy footsteps pounded against the ground; tinkling crashes danced in their ears; and Sam's screams tore against Danny's eardrums.

Danny slammed his fists aganst the wall, screaming in frustration. It was like torture, hearing Sam screaming and not knowing if it was in pain or terror - or both.

Her screams dragged on for hours. Jazz and Valerie were in tears, sobbing uncontrollably at the sounds Sam was making. Tucker was pacing at the foot of Sam's bed, while Danny had sunk to the floor in the corner by Sam's door.

There was a particularly loud crash; Sam's screams cut off. The girls gasped, Tucker froze, and Danny scrambled to his feet.

"NO!" Sam shouted suddenly. They all jumped and leaned forward, straining to hear what was happening.

A long, drawn-out scream slipped beneath the door. Masculine shouts could be heard over it. Jazz and Valerie clutched each other, while Danny stumbled backwards into Tucker. This scream was far worse than any they'd heard in the hours they had been locked in her room.

Her scream transformed into sobbing. The sobs slowly quieted; Danny could feel his heart throbbing painfully in his chest as he strained to listen for Sam.

Quiet footsteps trudged up the stairs. Danny lunged forward, seizing the doorknob. He waited; there was a timid knock on the door. "It's me," a hoarse voice said.

He swung the door open and gasped. Sam was absolutely drenched in blood; tear tracks glittered on her cheeks. She was covered in small scratches and bruises. A large gash was pouring blood on her arm.

"God, I almost forgot how much I hate pink," She smiled weakly as her eyes travelled further into the room.

* * *

><p>Woop!<p>

Don't worry, everything will be cleared up in the next chapter (:

I LURV YOU PEEPLE :D

Thanks for reading! (:

Make sure you guys watch for chapter ten, it'll be up soon (:


	10. Tears and Explinations

Chapter ten!

This went up much faster than I thought it would! It's very sad, I must say. Not so sad that you would cry, I think, buttttttt...you get the picture. (:

This should explain everything that went on in the last chapter (:

I don't own Danny Phantom as I'm sure you've noticed haha (:

Here we go!

* * *

><p><strong>Nightmares<strong>

**Chapter Ten:** Tears and Explinations

"_Sam,_" Danny's voice caught in his throat. He could not move his limbs; he stood, frozen, staring at her. "What...what _happened?_"

"Uh," She glanced over Danny's shoulder.

"Get in here," Tucker said quickly, pushing past Danny and grabbing Sam. "Val, go to Sam's bathroom. There's a first aid kit in one of the cabinets,"

Valerie nodded and rushed into the bathroom. Tucker helped Sam onto her bed while Jazz went to the bathroom with Valerie. She reappeared with several towels, which she used to mop up the blood on Sam's body. Danny yanked one of the drawers on her dresser and pulled out baggy black sweat pants and a purple v-neck t-shirt.

He tossed the clothes onto the bed beside Sam and knelt down in front of her. She smiled at him, her eyes sparkling with exhaustion and thankfulness.

"Here," Valerie said, pushing the kit into Tucker's hands. He popped the cover off and began cleaning.

"Go ahead and start explaining," He muttered.

"I would really rather not talk about it..." She murmured, her eyes on the wound Tucker was cleaning.

"You promised us you would explain." He said, staring at her. "You owe us that. You wouldn't let us help you fight your nightmare, so you have to tell us about it."

"Actually, I don't," Sam said, yanking her hand out of Tucker's. "I didn't ask to see your nightmare. It was just forced on me. You could have told me to hide. You _did_ tell me to hide." She glanced at Danny. "I don't have to tell you anything."

"But Sam, you promised," Jazz said quietly.

"Who cares?" Tucker said loudly.

"Tuck," Danny said.

"No, Danny! Seriously, Val, Jazz, and I have all been humiliated by showing our nightmares to everyone. You leave us up here for hours while we listen to you scream and run around like a maniac, come up here looking like this, and then refuse to tell us about what the _hell_ happened to you?"

"Tucker!" Valerie said.

"You know what?" Sam whispered. "My nightmare is different than any of yours."

"How?" Tucker asked.

"Because all of yours were just that, nightmares!" She screamed, her voice breaking. "You can wake up from them, scared, and look in the mirror. You can say to your reflection, 'It's okay, it was just a dream. It's never happened to me before, and most likely, it never will.' I can't say that! I can't tell myself that my nightmare will never happen,"

"Why?" Danny asked breathlessly.

"Because it happened to me! My nightmare isn't _just_ a nightmare," She whispered. "It's...it's a memory,"

The shock that radiated through the room could have been cut with a knife. Sam's head rolled forward, her shoulders slumping. Tears began sliding down her cheeks.

"It's a memory. A dark, sick, twisted, demonic memory." She raised a hand to wipe the tears away. "What you guys heard happening downstairs actually happened to me, eight years ago."

She took a deep breath, glancing at Danny. He slid his hand over hers and ran his thumb over her knuckles. She flipped her hand so that their palms were pressed together, intertwining her fingers with his as he slid onto the bed beside her.

"When I was eight years old, I had a cousin named Natasha," She started. "She was like a sister to me. We did everything together. She would always come over on the weekends while our parents went out together.

"One weekend, she was over. Our parents were supposed to be out all night at some fancy dinner party. Tasha and I...decided to play hide-and-seek. She hid. I sought. I stayed in the kitchen, counted to ten. I started looking for her.

"She wasn't anywhere upstairs. I searched everywhere downstairs. The only place I hadn't looked was...my parent's bedroom." She shuddered. "I snuck down the hallway, thinking I was going to sneak up on her. I crawled around the corner, and...and I saw her.

"She was facing the door. A man I'd never seen before was holding her, one hand over her mouth, the other holding a knife to her throat. He didn't see me, but Tasha did. She was staring at me, her eyes were pleading with me. But...I-I couldn't m-move," She gasped, trying to get control of her sobs. "I just sat there and w-watched...I s-saw...I saw her die!" She sobbed, burying her face in her hand. Danny wrapped his arm around her shoulder and squeezed gently. Valerie and Jazz's eyes were shining wth tears. Tucker looked deeply disturbed. "I watched him murder her!

"I screamed. He saw me. He started chasing me all over the house. I just ran and screamed. I didn't even try to fight back. He kept running after me, never said anything, just chased me. After a while, he tackled me down. I didn't even try to fight back. I just let him stab me."

"He _stabbed_ you?" Danny shouted. He leapt off the bed and raced to the door, determined to murder the man who had hurt Sam.

"Wait, you didn't let me finish!" Sam screamed. Danny froze, his hand on the knob. "Yes, he stabbed me. Once. I froze, stopped moving, stopped breathing, and just sat there, sprawled out on the kitchen floor with a knife in my shoulder. The man ran away...I don't think he meant to murder anyone, just to rob the place,"

"So in your nightmare...the same thing happened?" Jazz squeaked as Danny slowly turned back toward her.

"Sort of," She said. "Only he really kills me. He stabs me, and then I wake up screaming," She said, nibbling on her lip.

"Why didn't you ever tell us about this, Sam?" Danny asked, dropping onto the bed beside her again.

"I've never been able to talk about it," She whispered.

"It's why you're a goth, isn't it?" Jazz asked quietly, leaning forward and touching Sam's knee.

Sam sighed. "I tell people I'm a goth so that they won't ask questions. I'm not a goth. I wear dark clothing because...because I'm still mourning. Eight years later, I'm still wearing black. Every day since the day of her funeral. I tell my parents that I'm a goth so that they won't put me in therapy. They would think something is seriously wrong with me if they found out.

"That's why I know so much about dreams and nightmares. I had to know how this thing works. Why I suffer from this nightmare every night. I had to figure out how to get rid of it." She whispered.

"Conquering your fear? How do you conquer..._this?_ Do you have to shake hands with the guy?" Tucker asked, a note of protection in his voice.

"No way," Valerie said. "That can't happen, that's can't be it!"

"No, no," Sam said, waving her hand in front of her face. "That's not it. My fear...isn't what happened downstairs. I mean, don't get me wrong, that was scary as _hell._ But that's not my greatest fear,"

"What is?" Danny whispered.

"That I could have saved her. I could have made a difference. I could have done more."

There was a quiet knock on Sam's bedroom door.

* * *

><p>Hehe. Cliffy.<p>

Woop.

Chapter eleven should be up later tonight (:

Thank y'all so much for reviewing! I love you (:


	11. Sam's Confrontation

Chapter eleven.

I think this will be the last chapter I post for today, as it is 11 o'clock and I am completely exhausted. Plus, it's kind of the longest chapter so far.

I'm actually kind of suprised that this story hasn't given me nightmares yet, honestly.

NOT THAT I'M COMPLAINING! (:

You know what I_ am_ complaining about, though?

The fact that I don't own Danny Phantom.

Blech. I don't own a lot of things, actually. Like a flat screen TV. Or a star. Or a trained monkey to do my algebra and eat the nasty food my mother buys.

That's relatively off-topic, actually.

Enjoy (:

* * *

><p><strong>Nightmares<strong>

**Chapter Eleven:** Sam's Confrontation

Valerie stood and stepped quietly toward the door. Sam was tensely staring, her eyes still glazed with tears, as Valerie slowly unlocked the door. Danny's arm wound protectively around Sam's waist, every muscle on pins and needles, ready to attack whoever was on the other side.

The door swung open.

Sam gasped.

An older version of Natasha was standing in the doorway; her brown eyes were sparkling the way Sam's did when she was excited.

"Sammy?" Natasha asked, stepping cautiously past Valerie.

Sam stood, her eyes on Natasha, resembling someone who was welcoming a family member back from overseas. "Tasha?" Her voice quivered with sadness and happiness at the same time.

They stared at each other only a moment longer, before running and hugging each other tightly. They both cried and tangled their hands in the other's hair, Sam not caring at the burning, stinging pain caused by her cuts.

"Oh my God," Sam whimpered, her eyes squeezed tightly shut.

"I missed you so much," Natasha whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks and falling into Sam's hair.

"I'm so sorry," Sam cried. "Tash, I'm so sorry..."

"Sh-h-h," Natasha hushed her, gently stroking Sam's hair away from her tear-and-blood-stained face. "You hush. You have _nothing_ to be sorry for."

"But I could have _done_ something," Sam moaned, "I could have_ saved_ you. If I hadn't been such a baby, you could still be here,"

"No. That's not true." Natasha put a hand on each of Sam's shoulder's and held her at arm's length. "You were not a baby. You were _so_ brave. I saw you sitting in the doorway and I thought, 'Well would you look at that! If I were her, I would run screaming from the house and never look back.' I know what you did after the man left. You came back to the bedroom, even though you were injured, and you did everything you could to help me. For that, I will always be thankful. Sammy, I love you," Natasha wiped a tear off of Sam's cheek and smiled. "We'll be together again someday. Okay? I promise,"

"I love you too, Tasha," Sam whispered. She hugged her cousin again, burying her face in Natasha's shoulder.

"Listen, I have to go," Natasha whispered when Sam pulled away. Sam bit her lip and nodded. "But, hey, I want to give you something to wear to memorialize me. That way, you can wear some color, be the beautiful girl you are without worrying about 'respecting my memory' or whatever," She rolled her eyes, resembling Sam then more than ever, and slid her hands behind her neck. She unclasped the small silver chains of a necklace; two small diamond hearts sparkled on the chain, dancing happily in the dim lighting of the setting sun leaking through the window. Natasha slid the chain around Sam's neck and fastened the clasp in the back. The hearts rested peacefully on Sam's chest; she raised a single tiny hand and stroked the hearts lightly with her slender fingers. "Walk me out?"

"Of course," Sam smiled. The girls walked out of the room side-by-side, shutting the door behind them.

"Holy crap, that was the saddest thing I think I've ever seen," Jazz whispered. Danny sat numbly on the bed; he would have never guessed that the girl he loved had experienced so much pain in her short life. It made his heart hurt thinking about it.

"In all the years I've known her, I never knew..." Tucker said, raising a hand to his forehead.

"I feel so awful for making fun of her, now," Valerie said, her gaze on her shoelaces. "I feel awful for making fun of _all_ of you, actually. It was stupid and immature of me...I was just trying to fit in with Paulina and them, but now I know where the real depth is," Tucker took one of her hands and squeezed it lovingly.

The door eased open again. Sam was waving to someone they could not see, tears streaming down her face.

"You okay?" Danny asked in a low voice when she sat back down beside him.

She sighed. "For once, I think I am," she looked him in the eye and smiled. "Now, do you think you can help me get something to cover these wounds? Seriously, they're starting to really hurt,"

They spent most of the hours following Sam's confrontation cleaning and bandadging her wounds. By the time they were finished, Valerie had already nodded off against the leg of the bed, and Jazz was leaned against the headboard, fast asleep.

"There's a pretty big guest bedroom down the hall," Sam reminded the boys as they prodded the two girls awake. "They can sleep down there, you guys can sleep with them or in here, or anywhere upstairs. Just...just don't go downstairs. I don't want you to see any of that," She slipped into the bathroom with the clothes Danny had pulled out for her earlier in her arms. Tucker led Valerie and Jazz down the hall, telling Danny that he had every intention of sleeping in the same room as them, leaving Danny to sit alone on Sam's bed, waiting for her to emerge from the bathroom.

"Hey," She said quietly a few minutes later. Danny turned and smiled at her; her hair was pulled into a messy bun, her bangs falling lightly against her forehead. Her violet eyes appeared exhausted, but finally at peace.

"Hi," He murmured. He patted the spot on the bed beside him. "Come sit with me?"

"Of course,"

She landed lightly beside him, her nearly non-existant weight barely disturbing the springs in the matress. She leaned into him, allowing him to drape his arm across her shoulders. He readjusted them until they were leaning against the headboard.

"I have to admit, I was really scared earlier," Danny said quietly, glancing at her. Her eyes were on his face, searching it eagerly as if she were attempting to memorize the exact placement of each freckle that danced across his nose and cheekbones.

"Oh? How so?" She whispered, smiling.

"I thought, for a second...you had..._died_," He found that the words were almost as difficult to say as the thought had been to process.

She grinned. "Come on, Fenton," she whispered, playfully pushing him. "You know I'd _never_ let that happen without saying goodbye first,"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I know,"

She snaked her arms around his middle and rested her cheek against his chest. "Thank you," she whispered.

"For what?" He asked as he placed his cheek lightly on top of her head.

"Everything," She laughed, before her voice turned more serious. "You've been a really good..."

Her voice trailed. Danny waited a moment, praying she wouldn't say the word he thought she was going to say. "A really good...what?"

"I don't know," She pulled her face away so that she could see him. Her eyes were full of sad confusion. "I was going to say 'friend,' but lately it feels like that word...doesn't really describe us very well anymore,"

"What word does?" his voice was husky; her lips were shining, causing the urge to kiss her to come in full-force.

She stared at him. "Something...more than friends," She whispered.

Danny cupped her cheek with his hand, his blue eyes boring into her violet. He brought his lips down to hers lightly, expecting her to pull away. But she didn't.

Her lips parted against his, and he deepened the kiss eagerly. He slid his tongue into her mouth, running it along her teeth and using it to fight for dominance with her tongue. He felt her hands tangle into his hair, while his slid down her waist and up her back. He felt her shiver and moan against his mouth.

He tore his lips away from hers, gasping for air, before bringing them back down against her jawbone. He kissed her slowly all the way down to her ear, where he paused on the patch of soft skin just below her earlobe. She shivered and tilted her head up, allowing him better access.

She pulled his face back to hers and their lips met again, the kiss much more passionate. Danny had slid them down the bed so that he was over her, his hands on her hips, feeling the animal instinct inside of him taking over, when -

"Hey, I just re-" Tucker's voice rang out from the doorway. "Oh_ gross_," He groaned as the couple jumped apart. "Bye,"

"Leave it to Tuck to ruin something like that," Sam laughed after he slammed the door, grabbing Danny and pulling him back toward her; he had cleared to the other side of the bed in suprise. She pulled the blankets of her bed up over them, giggling at the sounds of Tucker telling Jazz and Valerie what he had just walked in on, and snuggled into Danny's arms, sighing contentedly.

"What did Natasha tell you after you guys left the room?" Danny asked after a few moments of silence. He had seen the look in her eyes, the look she wore when she knew something, and had been insanely curious, but cautious to bring it up in front of the others should Sam start crying again.

She giggled. "She told me you were cute and that I should date you," She gazed up at him, her eyes twinkling in the darkness.

"Done," Danny smiled, kissing her lightly. He felt her lips turned up in a grin as she kissed him back.

* * *

><p>A;LKDJA;GLSDKJA;LSKDFJA;SDG<p>

That was almost too fluffy for my computer to handle.

But I figured there needed to be at least one little bit of fluff to cushion the coming chapters.

DUN DUN DUN.

I hope the big moment was what you were expecting! If it wasn't, too bad for you. :P

(:

Please don't make me ask you to review. I want at least 100, and you guys are pretty dang close. You're nearly at ninety as it is, and there are still several more chapters left (which I need to get started on...).

So help me out. Review. Tell me what you think. Pwease. A passive reader is the worst kind of reader. Submit your opinion. Help me grow as a writer. Tank oo.

You guys are kind of kick-butt awesome-socks cool-beans awesome, IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW.


	12. What Hurts The Most

Howdy hey.

This chapter is really intense. Not gonna lie.

It's the longest chapter yet.

And there is a HORRIBLE cliffy at the end. If you don't want to die of anger at me for putting that cliffy in, I would just wait to read this chapter til after the next chapter is posted.

Hehehe.

I don't own Danny Phantom, but I do own this really weird twisted story line. I really don't even know where I came up with this idea...hmf.

Oh, and the title of this chapter has NOTHING to do with that Rascal Flatts song, I forgot about that song until it started playing on my iPod while I was writing this...coincidence! But I guess I don't own that song, either. Just saying that to be safe.

So, here it is!

Chapter twelve!

* * *

><p><strong>Nightmares<strong>

**Chapter Twelve:** What Hurts The Most

Danny was awoken, yet again, by the sounds of Freak Show's laughter. He groaned and opened his eyes, just to find a most delightful scene before him: Sam was curled up against him, her sleep-filled eyes on him. A small half-smile played on her lips as she watched him wake up. He could not help himself; he leaned over and kissed her.

"I get to do that whenever I want, now," He laughed, rolling out of Sam's bed. She smiled and crawled out behind him.

"Come on, let's just focus on getting out of here before we start talking about that," She whispered, planting a swift kiss on his cheek. He grabbed her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers, leading the way out into the hallway. Tucker, Jazz, and Valerie were already standing outside the guest room door; the girls were watching the couple with a knowing smile, while Tucker attempted to fish out his PDA to take pictures.

"I'm gonna be rich when we get home, FYI." He informed Danny and Sam when they reached the other three. "I've made so many bets with people, I'm gonna have at least $300 rollin' in,"

"You took bets on when we would start dating?" Sam asked incredulously as the walls began to spin.

"Yep,"

"You're a dead man, Foley," Danny growled.

The walls began to slow. Buildings began materializing from the blur of colors. When it finally came to a stand-still, the gang realized that they were standing in down town Amity Park.

"So this is Danny's nightmare?" Tucker asked, glancing around at the sunny scene before them. "Doesn't seem that scary,"

"This isn't the nightmare I thought it was going to be," Danny said, dropping Sam's hand and looking around.

"Well, what nightmare did you think was gonna happen?" Jazz asked.

"Usually it's...Dan escaping from Clockwork and finding me again," Danny admitted with a shiver. "But this isn't how that nightmare starts. It starts with me in the lab, hearing the ghost sirens going off and everything and then me rushing out to find him...you know...causing damage,"

"I don't see Dan anywhere," Sam said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Maybe this is -"

There was an explosion to their left. The teens were blasted off their feet and sent crashing through the windows of the building beside them. Broken glass danced around them as they groaned and sat up.

"What was that?" Valerie asked, shaking bits of glass out of her hair.

"Explosion?" Tucker said, nursing a cut he got from soaring through the window.

"Close, but no," A voice said.

They gasped. The voice belonged to Dan; he was hovering before the shattered window, sneering down on them as they struggled to their feet.

"See, that was all me, trying to take care of you brats so that _his_ transformation -" he pointed at Danny, "into _me_ is inevitable,"

"Not a chance!" Danny shouted. He transformed into Phantom and dove in front of his friends, keeping his eyes on Dan the entire time. "You're not getting to them. You'll have to go through me first."

"Well alright," Dan shrugged. He blasted Danny away easily, merely lifting a finger and shooting an energy beam.

"RUN!" he heard Tucker scream. The sounds of their footsteps echoed through his ears, coming closer and closer, until he felt four hands on him, two under each arm. They pulled him to his feet and dragged him out of the building. When the stars had left his vision, he realized that Sam and Tucker were carrying him down the street.

"In here, come on!" Danny shouted, grabbing Sam and Tucker by the wrists and leading the other girls into an abandoned warehouse.

Danny dropped Sam and Tucker lightly in their feet and sank to the ground, curling into a ball and rocking back and forth.

"Come _on_, Danny," Sam whispered, dropping beside him and touching his shoulder lightly. "We have to fight him, there's no other way,"

"I never beat him in my dream," Danny moaned, not looking at Sam.

"We _never_ beat our nightmares when they're actual nightmares, but we_ have_ been beating them here! And this isn't even your dream, it's different! You said it yourself, this nightmare that we're experiencing right now isn't like the one you usually have," She took his chin in her hand and forced his eyes upward so that they were resting on her face. "That means that your greatest fear has changed, hasn't it?"

Danny gulped and nodded.

"Before, it was becoming Dan, right?" Tucker asked, kneeling down on Danny's other side. Danny nodded, his eyes still on Sam. "So...now what is it?"

Danny could not speak. His eyes were wide and pleading with Sam, begging her to understand, to not make him say the nagging fear that had been plaguing him since realizing what Freak Show had in store for them...

"It's me," Sam whispered.

"What? Danny's afraid of _you?_" Jazz asked as she and Valerie knelt in front of Danny.

"Understandable, of course. I mean I have _scars_ from the last argument I got in with Sam," Tucker said, rolling his eyes.

"No. Danny's greatest fear is...is losing me," Sam whispered, still staring at Danny. He closed his eyes and nodded once, praying that the tears building behind his eyelids would not spill forth.

"That's why all the other nightmares have been attracted to you, Sam!" Jazz said suddenly, snapping her fingers. "It was Danny's fear of losing you that kept them attacking you specifically, just like when Valerie was wishing the clowns would disappear and they just multiplied! This _whole thing_ has been Danny's worst nightmare! I get it!"

"I have to keep you safe," Danny muttered, grabbing Sam's wrist. "If Dan finds you...he'll kill you,"

"How does this nightmare end, Danny?" Sam whispered.

"I'm fighting Dan, when he splits into duplicates. One of them slips away when I'm not looking and finds you. He chases you all the way to the roof of one of the taller buildings and pushes you off." Even though he had never actually had the nightmare before, he knew he was right.

"What...what building?"

"No." Danny said suddenly, realizing what she was doing. "I'm not telling you, because I know what you're going to do. I won't let you sacrifice yourself, Sam. No way."

"I wasn't gonna sacrifice myself!" Sam said loudly. "I wanted to know so that I can know what building to stay away from! You four have to go fight Dan," She glanced at the other three before returning her gaze to Danny. "I need to hide, but I don't want to walk right into a building if it's the one I get pushed off of,"

Danny stared at her for a second, trying to find a hint of dishonesty in her eyes. He found none.

"That one, right there," he pointed through a grimy window near the ceiling of the warehouse at a large building with dark windows, at least twenty stories high. Sam's eyes rested on the building for a moment before she nodded.

"Well, we can't hide in here forever," Valerie said suddenly. "That freaky ghost guy is still out there, and I have a feeling Danny's the only one who can stop him,"

Tucker nodded. "But that doesn't mean _we_ can't help," He said suddenly, pointing to a cardboard box shoved into a corner.

The box was full of ghost-hunting equipment. All of Valerie's was there, along with wrist rays, spector-deflectors, ghost-peelers, and Fenton Thermoses.

Danny locked a spector-deflector around Sam's waist. "Be careful," He whispered, hugging her tightly.

"I will if you will," She whispered back. They pulled their faces away, arms still around each other, and kissed lightly.

"Come find me when you're finished," Sam called once they were outside. She took off running down the street in the opposite direction of the other four.

"Let's go kick some ghost butt," Valerie said, jumping onto her hoverboard. Danny, who was floating a few feet up off the ground beside her, grinned and nodded.

"Just, not mine, okay?" He asked. Valerie giggled.

They found Dan in a matter of minutes. They were able to put up a good fight, cornering him at City Hall. Danny was actually starting to think they would be able to pull this off, when Dan duplicated himself several times.

"Damn it!" He shouted, duplicating himself. He lunged forward and blasted one of Dan's duplicates away with an ecto-beam, just as Valerie and one of Danny's duplicates took out another one of Dan's duplicates. Tucker and Jazz sucked two of Dan's duplicates into a Fenton Thermos, leaving one cowering on the steps to City Hall.

"Please...have mercy..." The duplicate begged.

"Not a chance," Danny growled. He sucked the duplicate into a Thermos, recalling his own duplicates as he did.

"Awesome! We're finished!" Tucker said, high-fiving Jazz.

"Uh, Danny!" Valerie shouted. She was pointing so something behind him.

Danny whirled around and felt his heart stop. A body was plummeting from the roof of a very large building with dark windows. Dan was standing on the roof, watching the body fall.

Danny could not feel himself shooting toward the building. He could not hear himself screaming. He could not feel the searing pain of the blasts Dan was shooting at him from the roof. The only thing he could feel was his heart shattering into a million pieces when Sam hit the ground and did not move.

"SAM!" He screamed, tears blinding his vision as he skidded to a halt beside her still body.

"Get away from him!" Valerie screamed. She was on her hoverboard, sucking Dan into a Fenton Thermos.

"Sam! Sam, please, no, don't be dead, please don't be dead!" He cried, transforming back into his human form, clutching Sam's body to his chest. She was not breathing. "You promised! You promised me you would never die without saying goodbye first! SAM! WAKE UP!"

* * *

><p>Oh my God, please don't kill me.<p>

I had to set the confrontation up. I'M SORRY.

Chapter thirteen WILL be up later today.

I would ask you to review, but I'm afraid of the death threats I might get from those of you who don't know where this is going...:D

ILOVEYOU and I PROMISE that everything is not what it seems...;)


	13. Danny's Confrontation

Oh man.

You guys.

Y'all broke 100 reviews.

YAY.

I'm a happy camper! :D

I mean, I've got my strawberry-banana fruit smoothie. I'm about to go quit my God-awful job.

AND CHAPTER THIRTEEN IS FINISHED.

I don't own Danny Phantom.

I won't talk anymore.

Chapter thirteen:

* * *

><p><strong>Nightmares<strong>

**Chapter Thirteen:** Danny's Confrontation

Danny's sobs were uncontrollable. Through the tears in his eyes, he saw Tucker kneeling down on Sam's other side. Jazz and Valerie were both crying, standing a short distance away.

"She...she can't be dead...she _can't_ be..." Danny mumbled through his sobs. He slid his hand behind Sam's head and lifted it to his shoulder. Tears rolled down his face and dripped slowly onto Sam's pale face.

"What's this?" Tucker asked suddenly. Danny glanced up at him, and spotted a small medalian in Tucker's hand. The letters 'CW' were scratched into the surface of the medalian. "Is this...one of Clockwork's necklaces?"

"_Clockwork!_" Danny screamed through his tears, tightening his grip on Sam. The ghost appeared beside him, his eyes twinkling.

"You called?" He said, a small smile on his lips.

"We have to turn back time," Danny choked, refusing to look at the girl in his arms. "We have to stop her from falling off the building! Clockwork, _please_, you have to help us!"

"I'm afraid that is impossible," Clockwork sighed. "There is no possible future that does not involve her falling."

Danny felt his heart break all over again. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against Sam's, feeling her hair rubbing lightly against his skin as thick tears streamed down his face.

"So that's it, then?" Tucker whispered, tears spilling down his own face as he stared at Clockwork. "Sam's..._dead?_"

"Well, now, who said anything about her dying?" Clockwork smiled again.

Danny's eyes flew open. His head snapped up as he stared at Clockwork. "What...what are you saying?"

"I said there was no possible future that does not involve her falling," His eyes twinkled. "I said nothing about there being no future in which she does not die,"

Clockwork smiled and touched a finger to Sam's forehead. A greenish glow began emminating from her skin. Danny gasped as her eyelids fluttered open and she gasped for air.

"_Sam!_" He shouted. He pulled her into a bone-crushing embrace, crying when he felt her arms snake around his middle.

"I'm fine, calm down. I'm okay," She whispered in his ear, rubbing his back soothingly.

"But how?" Jazz sniffled. She had started crying again when she realized Sam was alive. "There's no way you could have survived that fall..."

"Clockwork helped me out," Sam shrugged over Danny's shoulder.

"You mean...you knew he was here?" Danny mumbled, pulling away and staring into her eyes. She nodded sheepishly.

"As soon as you told us Dan was in your nightmare, I began having a feeling that Clockwork would be around,"

"You knew the entire time?"

"Well, I had a feeling. I wasn't sure, but I thought that if Dan was here, since he's under Clockwork's control, Clockwork himself wouldn't be far away. I knew when you pointed out the building...I saw one of his medalians hanging in the rafters of the warehouse near the window. It was only there for a second before it disappeared, but I knew I'd seen it."

"Miss Manson was extremely intelligent about this," Clockwork chuckled. "She made sure she knew exactly where she needed to be and when she needed to be there, and managed to get herself there without calling any of your attention to her person."

"I just cut through the alley and took the back roads," She grinned. "You guys never even saw me."

"When she got to the roof of the building, she started talking to me, telling me her plan. Even though I already knew what would happen, I myself was getting a bit nervous," Clockwork laughed again. "Dan came up to the roof as I knew he would, and pushed Miss Manson off. I stopped time just before she hit the ground, caught her, and told her my part of the plan."

"He said that in order for us to get out, Danny would have to think that I was dead. At least for a few minutes," Sam smiled and gently touched Danny's face. "He said that if Danny thought I was dead, he would be conquering his fear of losing me. So Clockwork put me on the ground in a position that looked like I'd just fallen from the roof of a twenty-floor building, did some wierd ghost thing that made me look dead, and started time again."

"Why didn't you tell any of us?" Valerie asked.

"I wanted it to be as real as possible," Sam said quietly. "I didn't want Danny thinking there was a hope of me surviving. If you three knew, your reactions wouldn't have been as genuine, and Danny would have suspected something was going on."

Danny felt relief flooding through his veins, making him weak at the knees. "Don't _ever_ do that to me again," He whispered, hugging Sam tightly.

"I _told_ you, I won't ever let that actually happen to me without saying goodbye first," She whispered, kissing his cheek lightly. "And I wouldn't have had to do it if it weren't for Freak Show,"

Danny felt pure rage rear up in his throat. "_Freak Show_," He growled, feeling his eyes glow green as he released Sam.

"...still has control of Desiree," Tucker said, pulling Sam into an embrace. "How are we gonna break the hypnotism?"

"Desiree is not hypnotized," Clockwork said, smiling down at them as Sam and Tucker pulled away from their embrace. "She is, however, under Freak Show's control,"

"How are we supposed to get her_ out_ of his control if we don't even know _how _she got under his control in the first place?" Sam asked as the ghostly master of time floated away.

"Based off of the wishful thinking you've all been doing here in this alternate universe, I have a feeling that you'll find a way," Clockwork chuckled as he disappeared.

"'Wishful thinking'?" Tucker repeated, glancing at the others in confusion.

"I get it!" Sam shouted suddenly, leaping to her feet. "I know how to get Desiree out of Freak Show's control!"

* * *

><p>SAM'S NOT DEAD.<p>

Remember when I said at the end of the last chapter, "everything is not what it seems"?

That's what I was talking about.

Okay so I made it pretty obvious how Freak Show got control of Desiree.

If you can't figure it out, I'll spell it out for you...

...in the next chapter.

Review!

I love you!

(THAT RHYMED!)


	14. Aw, Man! Another One?

So it kinda looks like this will be the second-to-last chapter.

I don't want to clutter up the last chapter with anything other than pure storyline, so I'll go ahead and get my thank you's in now (:

To those of you who read this little story all the way through, thank you for taking the time to read my work. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it (:

To those of you who reviewed, you are like, the most awesome people in the whole wide world. You guys are so stinkin' funny! Thank you for not threatening me too much (I've got my eye out for that pan, Turkeyhead987...) and for all of the AWESOME positive reviews. You guys make it so much fun to write!

To those of you who favorited this story, I'm so glad you liked it! Thank you so much, I'm EXTREMELY flattered (:

To those of you who favorited me as an author, you have NO IDEA how AWESOME that is for me! I feel SO honored, and I hope I'm able to continue being one of your favorites! Thank you, thank you, thank you! :D

Ah. Okay. I don't own Danny Phantom, or the movie Inception, which is briefly mentioned in this chapter.

NOW THE LONGEST CHAPTER SO FAR! Probably because of all the commentary...ah well (:

I LOVE YOU! (:

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Nightmares<strong>

**Chapter Fourteen: **Aw, Man! Another One?

"You know how Freak Show got control of Desiree?" Tucker asked incredulously, scrambling to his feet.

"It's so _obvious_, I can't_ believe_ I didn't think of this before," Sam said, walking quickly down the street with the others on her heels.

"Mind sharing with the rest of us?" Valerie asked impatiently.

"He didn't hypnotize her at all! He just _wished_ she was under his control! And since that _moron_ grants every wish she hears, she just did it!"

"So...so how do we get her out of Freak Show's control?" Tucker asked.

"Well that's a stupid question," Jazz said. "Someone just has to wish she wasn't under Freak Show's control anymore!"

"The only problem is, we need to get out of here first," Danny said, glancing up at the sky. The sun was still fairly high, several hours away from setting. "Now that all of our nightmares are finished and we've conquered our fears, how do we get out of here?"

"I have an idea," Sam murmured. Danny realized that she was leading the group to the park. "If you have a dream, what's one way to wake up?"

"Alarm clock," Tucker said immediately. "But I don't see any of those around here..."

Sam rolled her eyes. "I mean in the dream, what's a way to wake yourself up? Come on, didn't you watch Inception?"

"Yeah, I never understood that movie," Tucker said. Valerie nodded her head in agreement with Tucker.

"They had to wake themselves up with shock. They shocked themselves in the dream, which woke them up and, of course, got them out of the dream,"

"Wait, like, _electric_ shock?" Valerie said loudly, glancing over her shoulder.

"No, like, suprise shock," Sam said. They were standing on the edge of the river that cut through the park. "You know, when you dream you're falling and you wake up suddenly? Like that,"

"Oh, okay. I get it,"

"But this isn't a dream," Jazz said. "...is it?"

"Again, it is, but it isn't at the same time," Sam said, grimacing. "I think - hopefully - we'll be able to get out if we fall into the river,"

"How?" Danny asked.

"Just, hang on. Let me see if my theory is right," Sam dove into the river. The others stood silently, waiting for her to reappear. Her head broke the surface of the water, a huge grin on her face. "There's a door down there, looks like the one to a closet I saw in the library. Come on! We're getting out of here!"

The other four dove in after her. Danny squinted his eyes and swam quickly after Sam, who was aiming for a heavy-set wooden door on the bed of the river. She glanced back at him, grinned, and swung the door open.

Danny squeezed his eyes shut, expecting to be sucked into the doorframe like water down a drain, but found the pulling sensation did not come. He swam cautiously forward, feeling the other three behind him, and put his hands on either side of the doorframe. He could not see beyond; only darkness met his eyes.

He gasped when he felt fresh air fill his lungs. He was soaking wet, but standing in a dark closet, his body pressed close to Sam's. She looked up at him and grinned, her raven hair plastered to her face and make-up running. Her eyes were sparkling. "We're home," She whispered.

The other three appeared shortly after that. They were crammed in the closet, uncomfortably close. After Tucker eased the door shut, they gasped; the door melted into the wall, completely disappearing.

"That...was freaky," Jazz whispered.

Suddenly, the sounds of Freak Show's voice rang in their ears. "Oh, _now_ you've done it!" he was screaming. Danny and Sam glanced at each other, listening closely. "_Slave!_ I wish these imbiciles experience each of their worst fears, together!"

"What the heck...?" Danny whispered. "Haven't we heard this before?" He grabbed the doorknob and opened the closet door by an inch.

The scene that met his eyes shocked him more than anything he'd seen in the last few days. It was exactly the way it had been when Freak Show had sent them to the alternate universe; Tucker was clinging to Sam, who appeared to have tripped into him in her retreat from Freak Show's embrace; Valerie was behind Tucker, glaring at Danny; Freak Show was standing in the middle of them, snapping his fingers at Desiree; Desiree was behind the desk, her hand outstretched.

"_So you have wished it..._"

"Danny!" Jazz burst through the library doors.

"_so shall it be._"

A loud bang echoed through the library, which filled with smoke. When the smoke cleared, the five teens were nowhere to be seen, and Freak Show was laughing hysterically.

"Oh what _fun!_" He giggled, clapping his hands together. "I'd love to see what kind of trouble those kiddies get themselves into, but_ I_ have a _world_ to take over!"

"Not on my watch!" Danny said loudly. He burst through the closet door, dripping wet, transforming into Phantom as he went. Freak Show gaped at him, unable to move fast enough to avoid Danny's fist.

He was knocked off his feet, slamming into a bookshelf, causing several books to tumble down on top of him. "But..._how?_" He whispered, staring up at Danny.

"We conquered our nightmares." Danny said, grabbing Freak Show by the collar of his shirt and throwing him against the wall.

"I wish -!" Freak Show shouted.

"Oh no you don't!" Sam screamed. "Desiree! I wish that you weren't under Freak Show's control anymore!"

Desiree blinked rapidly and shook her head. "Oh thank_ God!_" She shouted. "I thought I'd _never_ get rid of him!"

"No! My slave!" Freak Show screamed, lunging forward, only to be stopped by Danny's fist.

"I wish that you only ever operate under your own free will, and that no one can ever wish for you to be their slave again!" Sam shouted. Desiree grinned.

"Now you've REALLY done it!" Freak Show screamed murderously. He whipped an ectogun out of his jacket and fired it at Danny, sending him soaring backwards and crashing into the front desk.

"Danny!" Sam, Jazz, Valerie, and Tucker all shouted at the same time.

Danny blinked and sat up, dazed, just in time to see Freak Show throwing Sam into Tucker, both of them crashing into a bookshelf with such force, the entire shelf toppled backwards and crashed into the others, creating a dominoe train effect.

"Sam! Tuck!" Danny shouted, scrambling to his feet. However, before he could make it to where they lay in a heap, he saw Sam coughing and rubbing her head and Tucker attempting to shove her off of his stomach.

"You'll pay for that one," Danny growled, turning to face Freak Show. "That's my _best friend_ and my _girlfriend_ you just tried to kill." He grabbed Freak Show and pinned him against the wall. "You_ nearly_ killed all of us, and for a few minutes, you _did_ kill Sam,"

"Why should I care?" Freak Show gasped; Danny was nearly choking him.

"Because, Sam is _everything_ to me!" Danny punched Freak Show directly on the nose, feeling brute pleasure when he saw blood pouring from the man's nostrils. "You should have known that if _you_ took everything away from_ me_, _I_ would take everything away from _you!_"

"_Danny!_" Sam's gentle voice stopped him. He had raised a glowing hand, having every intention of driving an ectobeam though his skull. "_Stop_."

"I wish Freak Show was put in custody for the rest of eternity, with no chance of escape," Danny growled, keeping his eyes on Freak Show's face.

"So you have wished it, so shall it be," Desiree said dreamily. Freak Show faded from Danny's grip.

"Thanks," Desiree said quietly. "I'll just be going, now." She sank into the floor.

There was silence in the library for a moment. The teens turned and looked at each other, grinning in spite of themselves at the enormity of what they had accomplished together.

This silence was broken, however, by the stirrings of the unconscious librarian. Her eyelids fluttered open, her eyes roving over the badly bruised and cut-up teens, coming to a rest on Danny.

"Ghost!" She screamed, pointing at Danny. "Ghost attack! Help! Help, there's a ghost attacking the library!"

Danny quickly sank into the floor, popping back up in the closet. He transformed to Fenton and stumbled out. The librarian's wide eyes bulged when she saw him.

"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn! _What's_ going on here?" Mr. Lancer screamed, appearing in the doorway of the library. He gasped when he saw the shape the teens were in, especially Sam. "What happened?"

"Ghost attack!" Danny said quickly. The others nodded. "A...uh...ghost came and...attacked the library! That's...that's how all of this happened," He gestured to the destroyed shelves and books lying open on the floor.

Mr. Lancer stared, his hawk-like eyes searching the scene. "And, Miss Manson? How did you get so injured?"

"The - uh - ghost. It...attacked me...I was alone, Danny had gone to the bathroom,"

Mr. Lancer examined her for a moment, his eyes piercing into hers. "Very well," he said finally. The teens sighed in relief. "You are all still being punished, however. I think for the rest of your three-week's detention, you'll be repairing the library,"

They groaned loudly.

"Aw, _man_!" Tucker grumbled quietly as they gathered their things off the floor. "Another one?"

"Another what?"

"Nightmare! _Three weeks_ of cleaning this _stupid_ library after school! I thought we were _finished_ with conquering nightmares..."

* * *

><p>So that's the end of chapter fourteen!<p>

There's going to be one more chapter, tying up the loose ends, fluffy as a melting marshmellow (:

Dang. Now I want a s'more. CURSE YOU, MARSHMELLOWS.

Review! Review! You guys have been so awesome in the reviews, I love it! I LOVE YOU!

(:


	15. New Beginnings

I don't own Danny Phantom, or The Hangover.

And without further ado...CHAPTER FIFTEEN (:

* * *

><p><strong>Nightmares<strong>

**Chapter Fifteen:** New Beginnings

Sam Manson sighed and leaned against her bed. She was exhausted, having been home from the library for about ten minutes. Jazz had been kind enough to offer everyone rides home; Sam had been the first to be dropped off.

She stood and stepped in front of her mirror. Her skin, usually smooth, was interrupted every few inches by a cut. She grimaced at her reflection; she had only ever been that injured one other time in her life, and it was not easily recovered from. She shivered, remembering the months following Natasha's murder: complete and utter darkness, constantly followed by her parents, doctors and nurses breathing down her neck, accusations of being crazy, and therapy. Lots and_ lots_ of therapy.

Sam stripped the purple v-neck and baggy sweat pants off. They were comfortable, yes, but as it was about 90 degrees outside, she felt as if she was suffocating. She rifled through the drawers in her dresser and extracted a light green tank top and a pair of black shorts that revealed much of the skin on her long legs. Once the clothes were on, she glanced in the mirror again; Natasha's diamond heart necklace was hugging her neck, the diamonds sparkling as her chest rose and fell in rhythm with her breathing. Her lips curled upward as she remembered the feeling of hugging her cousin; it was one she would never forget. She full-out laughed when she realized she was already taking her cousin's advice on wearing a little color.

She wiped a happy tear away and slid some fuzzy black socks out of another drawer. She went to her closet and dug her black and white slipper booties, a happy smile on her face. She took a black blanket sprawled across her bed and wrapped it tightly around her shoulders.

She slid out of her room and padded lightly down the stairs. She kept her eyes on the ground when she got to the ground floor, trying not to look around at the scene imprinted on her mind, refreshed after the eight years that had dulled the details. She found the staircase leading down to her basement and sighed happily.

She searched the endless shelves of DVDs, attempting to find a movie to watch. She plucked out The Hangover, deciding she was in desperate need of a good laugh. Once the DVD was in the DVD player, she sank into the hugely cushioned couch and, drawing the blanket closer around her body, pressed play.

Right at the part of the movie when Mr. Chow was screaming at Phil, Alan, and Stu, she felt a sudden cold breeze across her right side. Her lips curled upward in a grin.

"Danny?" She whispered, lifting the remote and pausing the movie.

"Hi," His deep, baritone voice chuckled. He appeared beside her, his snow-white hair falling into his glowing green eyes. His muscles were rippling beneath the black and white spandex suit he wore; he looked like a ghostly Greek god lounging on the couch beside her. She grinned happily.

"Hi," She whispered back. Her eyes were on Danny's face, drinking in his features hungrily. His skin was glowing in his ghostly form. His cheekbones were high over his flushed cheeks, his green eyes sparkling as he smiled down at her. His arm draped lightly over her shoulders, drawing her closer to his side. Two light rings appeared around his waist and traveled up and down his body, revealing his human self. He was wearing a dark blue cotton t-shirt that hugged his arms and abs in all the right places, and a pair of black basketball shorts that rested just above his knees. His feet were propped up on the coffee table before them.

"How ya' feelin'?" he murmured, pushing his now jet-black hair out of his sapphire eyes.

"Exhausted," She sighed, pressing her ear over his heart and closing her eyes. She could hear his heartbeat, the steady pounding inside his chest providing her with a sense of safety. She draped an arm over his stomach, smiling as he wound his arms protectively around her. "How were things at your place?"

"Oh, you know. Mom and dad yelled at me for not telling anyone I had detention. Then one of their inventions exploded. The usual," He laughed. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay, since you said you'd be home alone tonight and everything,"

"I'm fine," She smiled, her eyes fluttering open. "Did Tucker make it home okay?"

"Yeah, he was fine," Danny chuckled. "He didn't want to leave Valerie, of course. He told me he was planning on sneaking out after we dropped him off to go to Val's."

"Speaking of Val," Sam said, turning her face upward to see his. "Did she deliver on her promise to kick your butt now that we're back home again?"

"Nah," Danny shook his head. "She finally realized that I really am the good guy. She realized everything you, Tucker, and I go through to protect her and everyone else in this town,"

"Good! I'm glad to hear that," Sam said earnestly, rubbing her hand across Danny's stomach. He laughed, his abs contracting beneath Sam's fingers. She giggled. "Honestly, I really am glad to hear it. You deserve a break,"

"Yeah, well, I know exactly how I'm going to be using this break," Danny whispered, wiggling his eyebrows. He pressed his lips against against hers, running his fingers through her mid-shoulder length hair. She sighed into the kiss and leaned closer, moving her body against his. She placed a hand on the couch to provide herself with a surface to push off of. Her palm caught the remote, which she grabbed blindly, trying not to melt as she felt Danny's tongue against her lower lip. Attempting to toss the remote away, she accidentally pressed the play button.

"So long, gay boys!" Mr. Chow's voice rang through the room. Danny and Sam pulled apart, bursting into laughter.

Distantly, Sam heard a knock on her front door. She grabbed Danny's hand and together they climbed the stairs. Sam swung the front door open and smiled at the sight of Tucker and Valerie standing on her front porch, hand in hand.

"Hey guys," Sam laughed, stepping aside as Tucker and Valerie slid inside. "We were just downstairs watching The Hangover. Want to join us?"

"Uh, of course!" Tucker said, yanking Valerie forward and laughing. Danny followed quickly after them, dragging Sam along behind him.

Once they were settled on the couches, Sam glanced around at her friends. Tucker and Valerie were snuggled close together, Valerie's head resting in the crook of Tucker's neck, her hand tracing circles over his chest. Valerie's eyes were half-closed, small smile across her lips. They both looked completely at peace in each other's arms. Her eyes travelled to the boy against whom she was leaning. He was watching her, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist protectively. The look in his eyes was almost possessive; it made Sam's heart skip a beat.

"I love you," He whispered, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead.

For the first time since Natasha's death, Sam felt really, truely happy. She lifted her hand and gently stroked his cheekbone with her thumb. "I love you too, Ghost Boy,"

He chuckled and kissed her again.

"It's funny, because he's fat!" Mr. Chow chortled.


End file.
